Scavengers
by BlackSheep Fiction
Summary: A massive earthquake ends the world that we know 40 years ago. Now in a world where the power struggle for three classes of people and the power struggle with in the classes themselves, brings a new level of danger to just living an every day life.
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay guys, so this is obviously something different, which you should know by now that different is what I do. lol This is just Verbal vomit right now. I do not have a particular paring in mind but if enough people say that this is worth pursuing then I will figure all that out. You all know i never write with an outline. I figure this shit out as I go. **_

_**So please review and let me know what you think of this so far.**_

**Chapter 1**

To understand me now, you must understand what has happened in my past. You must understand how we live now, so different than it was once remembered.

It was like every other day. People hiking, swimming, and just going on with their every day lives. It was the beginning of the end of everything society knew. April 1st ironically brought more then just child like games and pranks.

My father told me about it when I was younger. He lived through it himself, although he was one of the very few that did. He said that he and three friends were out passing around a stolen cigarette in the drainage ditch that ran through the neighborhood. They were watching the tourists and locals alike climb the surrounding sheer mountain cliffs. There used to be a path for easy hiking, but there were also ropes on either side of the path that led up to small plateaus and shallow caves.

He told me how fast it happened. The ground started to shake and the rocks took out the group of teenagers that were climbing on the plateaus. All three of them jumped to their feet, using phones to call for help, but it wouldn't do any good. No one was coming. There would be no time. The mountain came down taking out anyone and everyone on it and the shaking ground brought debris all around them and right on them. They took cover as best as they could.

He told me the ground shook for what seemed like hours. When it finally stopped, he and his companions came out from hiding and it looked like something written in fiction. Nothing was recognizable. The mountain came down and so did everything else. It wasn't just La Push. It wasn't just Washington either. It was a world wide over use of the earth that finally caused the earth to fight back. There wasn't much news that got around after that day because there weren't a lot of people that survived, however when explanations were demanded, over the years, this is what they were told.

Human actions can trigger much larger quakes along natural fault lines. That's because humans, with the aid of our massive machines, can sling enough mass around to shift the pattern of stresses in the Earth's crust. Faults that might not have caused an earthquake for a million years can suddenly be pushed to failure. It wasn't a war or one massive nuclear blast that did it. It turns out that if you want to make an anthroquake (a man-made earthquake); shifting mass is far more effective than delivering a momentary blast.

That is what happened. Human's over built dams, injected liquid into the ground by making man-made wells, mined all of the coal that the earth had to offer, drained all of the oil and natural gas from known sources and of course in the end, the biggest cause was over population. Mother Nature took the idea of natural selection and put it on crack, deciding to wipe the slate clean. All of these things, causing one or two plates in the earth to shift are tragic but not a global killer as they say. It was happening all at once and all the time though causing plates to shift and setting off a chain reaction in all of the tectonic plates on earth which triggered one huge earth shifting, volcano erupting, tsunami causing quake.

The numbers of casualties were cataclysmic, the numbers of survivors were never defiantly determined.

It had been 40 years since that day. The world over all is a very different place now.

The groups of people left in the territories of land broke up into three parts. It wasn't just in the northern part of what was now known as Middle Land (once known as North America) since it lay between the Northern Lands (Canada) and the South Land (South America). It was all over the world that was broken into territories. Smaller then continents but larger then what states used to be.

A'achit (Ah-ah-chit):

The "Rich" or well Prepped are the group of people that, even though they all had different theories on how it would happen, they knew the end of times as we knew it was coming. They had all sorts of things in place, ready to be used for such times as these.

They were not rich in the sense of money as was known 40 years ago. Currency now is different and only specific types work with a specific group of people. In the A'achit, gold, silver, and copper were the only currency used. Nothing else was acceptable in this territory.

D' peyi (D-pay-ee):

Creole was the second most popular language in Washington next to English. 70% of people spoke it before the requital. Even more speak it now. Since the "Savage Lands" covers a lot larger territory then most and that is what they speak, everyone had to pick up on how to speak it or else 90% of your trades won't happen.

Savages took all unoccupied space between The Compound and A'achit and everywhere in between. Most savages are only called so because they didn't have the metal to be apart of the A'achit and didn't have the blood lines or bad misfortune to be in The Compound. Although there are the others that truly deserve the savage title. They are called name Ka'ya (Kai-yah) by the Quileute people, which simply means, Kidnap.

The Ka'ya hunts humans for entertainment and make them slaves, sold to the A'achit community. They hold death matches that are famous for bringing in most of the Savages funds. They sell food and charge people to come and watch even. They are even been asked to entertain the A'achit territory once a month where they all bet on winners and losers. To be caught by a Ka'ya means the end of one's life. You are sent to fight literally for your life or used as a slave. It is common practice for the Ka'ya to "sterilize" their slaves so there aren't any slave related pregnancies happening.

The Compound:

People with any kind of Indian blood, even just a speck, were gathered up and shoved here on this compound of land. Tlingit, Nisga'a, Tsetsaut, Haida, Tsimshain, Gitxsan, Haisla, Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah, Coast Salish, Nuxalk, Willapa, Chimakum, Quileute, and Chinook were all thrown together, forced to get along over a span of land. It is a lot bigger than the tiny reservations used to be, more like the Olympic National forest and National Park (about 922,651 acres) and that is now The Compound. Which sounds like a lot, however since there are no longer individual sates, the North West or Savage lands that all three communities reside in now spans over five of the old states, which roughly comes to over two million acres.

This started happening when most some people, savages really, didn't know how grow and find food on their own. The irony isn't lost on me that we natives call the white guys the Savages now, by the way. So instead of learning, they went to all of the Indian reservations in the whole North West and collected everyone, moving them to The Compound. In return for them doing the food providing for the savages, the savages have promised not to let the Ka'ya allowed inside the Compound. If any Indian were caught outside The Compound, well that is fair game in the eyes of the Ka'ya, but they have agreed, and held true to the bitter union that the Indians and Savages had. No Ka'ya has set foot inside The Compound.

Within the compound there are four types of groups that were established many years ago. There is the Wolf-pack. They are skilled hunters and they provide the large game and fish that feeds the Compound and in turn, the Savages. They are hand picked by Sam, the leader of the Wolf Pack to train from the time they reach manhood. Even though gender was not usually a factor within the compound duties, the Wolf Pack was all men. They are a praised and well respected among the whole compound. They are also bunch of pompous assholes and love to love themselves because of this.

I regress.

There are the Yala (Yeah-la), the Quileute word for Ghost, who patrols the edges of The Compound. They won't be seen for weeks on end, but if there is a problem at the borders or something suspicious happening, they will make themselves known. Yala is the compound's was of letting those who prefer to live and stay alone be that way, but still help the community in a whole.

There are then the Innocents who are just the woman and children and those who assume the everyday functions of the Compound to keep it running smoothly.

And then, there is the last group, the Scavengers. They are exactly as their name implies. They sneak off the compound and travel outside the compound's borders into the surrounding towns and cities in the whole savage lands territory. They check abandoned houses and stores. They look everywhere they can for things that the compound could possibly need or use.

When a Ka'ya captures a Compound resident, it is usually a Scavenger who has run out of luck.

Now that you have come to understand my world, I can introduce myself. I am Bella by the people that knew my father, Charlie, who once told me that we all had last names when he was growing up, but our compound finds no use in them. By the scavengers I am known as Kloshe, which is just Bella in Native. We all learned each other's languages and made them into one large language summed up as only native. There are no individual families anymore, no one person. After all the tribes got thrown together, there was a period of disjointedness that followed through the Compound. It did not take long for us to realize though that we will not survive if we do not come together. So we have. We are now one tribe, named Naika Tillikums, meaning My People.

There is no marriage or forever union in the Compound unless you are a part of the elders who were basically those who are the children of the original few that were brought here. They are expected to wed together to breed the most powerful of warriors. Also, Leah and I were the last woman left of the elders descendants that were breeding age. We are often forced to the gatherings to participate in the 'offering' of then men to the women. We have refused every time.

This is probably why they still think us so uncivilized. However, I believe that we are far more advanced than them. They wait around for the perfect one person and then spend their life with them, sometimes never even repopulating!

The women live together and the men live together in the compound, there is no men and women cohabitation. If you feel like you need 'entertainment' there are homes within the compound that you can do that. The women who cannot bare children are of high value, especially to the entertainment lodges, since they can provide the men entertainments that need it without the burden of getting a woman pregnant. The men and woman of the compound do get to meet socially whenever they would like, but it is not usual to see them mingling. If you would like to have a child, then you can put your offer out and there is no shortage of men that won't take the honor of gifting a child to the compound. If you get pregnant, then the man responsible will visit you once a month until the child is one, bringing food and anything else that may be needed and if it is a boy, after that year the man will take the child to live with the men. If it is a girl then the child will stay with the mother and start to learn a skill that will be useful to the compound. No courting, no arguments, no heartbroken unstable reactions. There is a type of social even once a month, however, when everyone takes a day off from work and the entire compound meets to be together and share the past months experiences. Really it just turns into a festivity where everyone can praise the Wolf Pack.

It is not uncommon for the women to take care of our own entertainment needs with each other instead of seeking out the men. Since it is high number women who become scavengers and we are on trail for several weeks at a time, it is not expected for scavengers to reproduce, unless of course you are Leah and I, who are Elder's Descendants. The baby making is usually the main job of The Innocents that stay in the compound. My father was taken from me years ago, but he taught me everything I know today about being a scavenger. He joked once that he trained me as a scavenger so that he never had to worry about the day that i would be expected to breed. He was here from the beginning, so he was revered as something of an idol among the scavengers. The fact that he was my father made me pretty known and being an elder's descendant made me respected.

The compound was not perfect, we still had our problems, but it wasn't the warring tribes that created this conflict. It was the color of your skin.

My father was a half Indian man who married a full native woman. He as the half son to the chief at the time when Indians were planted on reserves and the whites took over most the land. _Ironic how much that didn't really change_. He explained to me the hierarchy of how the tribes worked, explaining to me that chiefs got to take whatever woman they wished, even if it were outside the idea of marriage. This brought the chiefs lots of children to keep on the bloodline.

Charlie's mother was, however, not apart of that plan. She was just a white woman that got lost and stayed with the chief one night until a storm blew over. That one night yielded Charlie and the woman thought that he would have a better life living on the reserve. Being a half-breed though brought along its challenges when the compound was formed. The savages were usually identified by their clothing and white skin, so Charlie was shunned at first. When his brother Billy stood up for him though and told the people of his Indian blood, he was finally accepted.

This brings us to present day me, where even though my father started the small group of scavengers that has grown to the large group we are today, the color of my skin makes me a half breed and there are still a few pure-blood people left that wont let me forget it.

"Kloshe, we cannot go out today, you know Sam will want us to meet with the others at the gathering tonight. The whole community will be there and you're an elder!" Leah said, tugging my arm as I headed in the direction of the border. Leah is my best friend and fellow scavenger. My father and Uncle Billy, who is still alive today, were best friends with Leah's father. Billy's son Jake is a part of the Wolf pack, probably one of the only of them that I could stand. Not that I would know really, since he was kept separate from us girls since before I can remember, but he is family and that goes a long way with me.

I shook my head, jerking my arm out of her grasp and continuing to walk. "I don't really care about what Sam has said, he does not lead this compound. I am not interested in the gathering."

Leah was still following though, determined to keep me out of trouble I guess. Alright so my father may have started the scavengers and I may be well respected for being his blood, but I am also kind of known more for the fact that all these rules and traditions of the compound piss me off. I hate being told that I must attend some community gathering because it is expected of me to be there for the joining of the elders. Like I had said before, Leah and I are the last women of the elders. I guess women didn't last too long in the first few years. I really don't see why just because my father was resourceful enough to make it, deems me automatically responsible for popping out some great warriors. I would rather do what I was taught to do from birth. Scavenge. "You know he will either see this coming and have the border blocked or he will send Paul and Jared after you." Leah argued, finally stopping when I said nothing in response and kept going. I head Leah yell out that she wasn't going to be covering for me but I still didn't stop.

I was not as scared of Paul and Jared as everyone else was. They were the most savage of trackers that Sam had in the Wolf Pack and they loved their job. They were ruthless to the point of cruel. I have gotten into it with those two a few times. I even punched Paul's jaw and broke Jared's nose. They however broke my arm as a reminder to who was hunting down whom.

I hated the gatherings. The separation of men and woman made it so that I had been on my own since my father's death. I made it a point, other then Leah, to stay away from the majority of the population. Don't get me wrong, I am not like those weirdos that end up being Yala. I did try, per Charlie's last wishes, to stay connected with the community and maybe even put my offer out to have a child. I just… couldn't. I was raised as a scavenger, so I was not gentle like the Innocent Woman, I do not like to stay still and I am not afraid of the Wolf Pack. It made me awkward and intimidating to the men that did approach me, except one. Sam, who I couldn't stand.

Leah became all I needed. She was my family, my friend and on occasion, my lover. Today, she was in my way. She knew I hated those gatherings and she knew I wasn't going but she tried anyways. _Why was she trying so hard today?_

I was with in sight of the border when I heard the telltale sign that I was being followed. I pretended to be looking at some berries and ducked behind a low bolder, getting my small knife ready. It was my favorite one, my father made it for me from deer bone, it was always with me, hidden in my boot. I was still in the Compound, so I knew it had to be one of the Wolf Pack, but as I had said, they weren't a great alternative to a Savage either so I will be ready, thank you.

"Do you really think that you can hide from me?" It was Paul, I should have guessed. He takes particular joy in the cruelty of their methods.

"This is not how the old world was, you know I am not required to be there." I snapped, ducking under a low briers bush. I heard him chuckle and it made me grind my teeth. Even his laugh sounded condescending.

"Bella, you know exactly why you need to be there." He sounded like he was further away, but I felt the cold blade against my neck. I felt a tug at my hair and i was jerked out of the briers, my arms raked with the sharp thorns, Jared's rough voice at my ear. "Hey there Bella, Sam is waiting for you."

I struggled against Jared's hold and Paul reached over, slapping my face making me growl at him. "Ou se yon moso kaka bon, mwen pa pwal pou yon gazèl élevage kochon sa pou li." _(You are a piece of shit, i will not be a breeding cow for that pig!)_

Paul smacked my face again. "You do not speak that savage language to me!"

"Sam is stupid if he thinks that this time will be any different then the others." I growled as Jared led me back towards the middle of the compound.

"Oh, you mean your friend Leah didn't tell you?" Jared sneered and I could hear Paul laugh from somewhere behind us. "She finally agreed to the union today. Her and Quil will be very happy together and she will no longer be a scavenger."

Quil? He was another Wolf Pack guy and just as cruel, there was no way she would agree to this. Then again, she didn't even act different when she was pulling me back earlier. She had been saying she was thinking of putting her offer out. I also assumed she meant with the innocents, not some brute from the Wolf Pack.

"Aww look at her, she looks shocked." Paul said laughing. "What is wrong, imagining your lover with a man between her legs instead of you?"

"At least I know what to do with a woman!" I spat back, earning myself a jerk of my hair.

"You think you are so cute, I cannot wait until the day you agree to Sam's offer." Jared rasped out. "He will have you tamed with in hours then do you know who you will belong to? The whole Pack, that's who."

I tired to look back at him but he kept my head forward. "This is not the old days," I said again. "We do not have chiefs with more then one wife! Leah will not be shared!"

I was suddenly stopped and Paul's face was in front of mine. He got close, bring his lips inches to mine and I could not push back against Jared's grip to get away. I glared into his eyes. "What do you think happened to Emily?" He whispered smirking at the look of horror that crossed my face.

Emily was Sam's first companion. Since it was the wolf pack elder's companion's job to take care of the wolf pack, she was off gathering things for the small village within the compound where the Wolf Pack lived. She was said to have been seen by a Wolf Pack member heading towards the Savage Lands, but never seen from again.

Or at least that is what we were told…until now.

_**Well...? Please review, even if it's a 'Meh' I would like to know what you think! Please! Thank you much!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I Love the reviews that i have gotten so far, thank you all for your helpful and very constructive criticism. Thank you so much!**_

Chapter 2

I was half dragged into the middle of the gathering, swearing the whole time. Sam was sitting with the rest of the Wolf Pack, eating the feast that the Innocents had prepared for this event. Paul shoved me hard, making me fall to my knees in front of the whole pack. A few of them laughed, along with the rest of the compound inhabitance, except Sam. He just stared at me.

"You sent your bitches to come get me?" I sneered, glaring at him. I felt a smack to the back of the head and growled not even bothering to look behind me, I know that Paul was the one that issued the blow. "You know I am still an elder descendant! You cannot treat me like this!"

Sam smirked and nodded slowly, flicking his wrist slightly. Paul and Jared headed back around me to join the rest of the pack. He leaned forward onto his knees. "Bella, there is no need for you to fight me."

"Yes there is." I snapped, moving to my feet. "I won't join with you. I don't know what you have threatened Leah with, but I have nothing you can hold over my head."

Sam smiled a warm and charming smile and if he wasn't such an evil prick… nah, not even then. "Leah has not been threatened with anything. She has come to Quil on her own, after the realization that dear Seth will be brought into the pack, she wanted to be able to be with him."

Ahh, so that was it. They threatened the only family she had left, to make his life hell if she didn't do this. I smiled sweetly, nodding. "Now I see, but you have forgotten that Seth still has three weeks before he is of age to join, and until then, Leah is his family. He is the man of the family and must work with the men in the Innocents to provide for her until that time."

Sam sighed regretfully. "Yes, we have thought of that. This is why by the next gathering, there will be a joining of Quil and Leah, until then, he is her intended and she will not be going out with the other scavengers."

My jaw dropped. "There is no such law!"

"There is if the woman is with child." Sam said easily and I grinned. "Well she isn't and until then, she will be going out, including the mission tonight." I felt a hand fold into mine and I didn't have to look up to know it was Leah. She gave it a squeeze of warning just as Quil shot to his feet.

I switched my glare to him, daring him to contradict me. Quil might have been an elder descendant but with Leah and I being the only elder descendant women left, and me as the leader of the Scavengers, he really had nothing he could say. Sam put his hand up, motioning him to sit back down and Quil followed the command with what looked like the very last shreds of his control. I smirked, looking back at Sam, winking before I turned to leave. "Bella, there is something else we must discuss."

I stopped and lifted a brow at him without a word, knowing that nothing I could say would help whatever might be coming at me at this point.

"There is going to be a tribe wide vote on the next gathering on how the running of the scavenger's will be handled from now on."

I saw nothing but red and was charging forward before I even knew I had moved. "What grounds do you have to question a system that has worked for over 40 years?"

Sam finally stood and I had to look up at him as he towered over a foot and a half taller then me, but I didn't flinch. "Your father didn't allow the trading of goods with pirates!" He snapped, his voice boomed and echoed off the trees surrounding the clearing.

_Oh well there is that_.

"The other lands have things that we can use!" I snapped back. It was true, they had lots of things that all of the northern, middle, and southern lands didn't have. The Europeans got hit the hardest, however instead of rebuilding a society like most of the world. They first started rebuilding their science labs and medicine. They might be living very poorly over there, from what the pirates tell me, but they are practically disease free.

The pirates first showed up about ten years ago and we did not hit it off right away. In fact we had a stand off on the shores of Everett and almost killed each other when they first arrived. I was fresh to leading a scavenging team since my father had died only days before and I was so much softer back then. The crew hadn't eaten in weeks though and even though we had walked two days to get there, we had food to spare. They had clothing material and creams and medicines that I had only heard of in the books that I have found in my early scavenging days.

The Capitan and I became good friends and even though you have to know him to understand his accent and know that when he calls you 'Love' or any other seemingly inappropriate pet names, he does it because it's inappropriate and he can see it clearly makes you uncomfortable. Or he likes you. Either way Alistair is one of a kind.

"Even your Wolf Pack has benefited from the medicine that was brought here from them!" I growled making him narrow his eyes at me.

"We will no longer be dealing with pirates." He said with finality in his voice.

I grabbed tight to Leah's hand and pulled her with me as I walked away. "Fine, I hope you get gored by a moose!"

There was laughing behind me but I didn't care. I pushed through the crowed until I was far enough away to have the compound go back to their festivities and I could whisper to Leah with out being over heard. "Get Seth and have him meets us outside the men's dwelling. Tell him to not pack anything."

Her eyes were wide but she nodded, heading off back into the crowed as I went to the women's dwelling to get my things that I usually brought with me on my scavenging excursions.

I was just leaving the women's dwelling the when I felt a tug at my wrists with a strong grip. I stopped, spinning fast and jerking my wrist free to see my uncle Billy looking back at me from a seat on a fallen tree. Billy was the start of the wolf pack when they first came here. He wandered too far into the savage lands was injured by a Savage, managing to narrowly escape back into the compound, but not before the injury cost him his ability to walk. Billy is now our historian and teacher for the kids of the compound. He is one of the last remaining few that still remained who lived through the great quake and Jake was usually the one responsible for moving him from place to place when needed, but as I glanced around I couldn't see him anywhere. "Billy? What are you doing here? Where is Jake?"

He smiled slightly and shook his head meaning we were along and Jake wasn't around. "We need to speak, Kloshe."

I nodded getting to my knees and sitting. He is my elder and his inability to stand makes me feel uncomfortable standing over him so I opt to sit on my knees so that I may look up to him, which is only the proper way. "Uncle Billy, please don't try to tell me to step down from the Scavenger's, its all I have left."

He shook his head again. "Kloshe, I would never ask such a thing, but I do ask if you are planning to return from this scavenge." He asked, nodding at my supply bag. I nodded silently, not wanting to give any details, but Billy just smiled. "I only ask because your father used to have a look about him when he was up to something, something usually big and not apart of the rules. You had that same look about you when you walked away from the pack tonight."

I smiled slightly and leaned forward, kissing my uncles fingers. The only person in the world, other then Jake, that shared blood with me. It was like a piece of my father still with me. "Uncle, I have to do what is right for these people, even if it means going against the wishes of the pack."

He frowned for a moment and then nodded. "So you know what this will cost you?"

I have thought of that. When they realize what my plan is, they will be out for compensation, but to save Leah and Seth from this fate will be worth anything. I nodded slowly and he touched my cheek. "Then go niece. I will see you when you return and if they ask, I'll let them know you've gone south."

I grinned and stood, kissing his cheek and walking away, quick before I am spotted, or he is spotted speaking to me. I came around to the back of the men's dwellings and almost ran straight into Seth. "Seth, you scared the crap out of me." He had grown since I had last seen him and I had to look up to speak to him. I really disliked being short. "Holy gods you have grown!"

He beamed at me and nodded. "That is what happens when you take your eyes off of me."

I smiled fondly and gestured for him to follow me, putting a finger to my lips to make sure he knew this was to be as stealthy as possible. It was still several miles to get to the edge of the compound and a 48 hour walk to where I had planned on taking him. He moved quiet which was nice. The boys were very loud going through the forest, even the pack I could hear miles away. This is another reason that mostly women were made scavengers.

So when I heard the sticks breaking and heavy breathing, I knew two things instantly. I know it was not Leah and we were being followed by someone who was not good at following people. I stopped, pushing Seth slightly against the tree and pulling my knife out of my boot, getting ready for whomever was following us to come by. Finally after about five minutes, a tall figure started to move past our hiding spot and I lunged, jumping high to grab around their neck, only to be swung off and thrown to the forest floor and pinned with the weight of their body. I squinted into the pitch black that, even this close, made it hard to see.

"Jake?" I said in disbelief. Of all of the pack to come follow me, I did not think it would be him. We are blood. "Jake, why are you following me?"

He snorted getting up slowly before holding a hand out to help me up. "What are you doing going this way? Dad said you went south."

I took the offered hand and stood, dusting off the pine needles from my clothing. "So you went north instead? Are the others in the pack looking for us now too?"

He shook his head looking almost sheepish. "No they said they wanted to, so I volunteered myself, telling then that since were family, then you would trust me and I could just find what is needed to know without you questioning my motives."

I took a step back, holding my breath some. "Is that what you are doing?"

I heard a scoff from him. "If I saw you leaving with Seth and my design was to tell the pack to stop you, do you think that I would keep following you this far? You are only two more miles from the compound border. I am here to make sure that you don't get caught."

There was a noise directly to my left, but I felt the warm hand slide into mine before I could over react and smiled. "Hello Leah. It looks as though we have a pack escort tonight." I could feel her body tense in mistrust, but I gave her hand a squeeze. "Don't worry its Jake and he says he is here to make sure that we don't get caught by any other pack, although I have a sneaking suspicion that Billy told him to do it, but that is just my opinion."

The silence from Jake basically confirmed my theory.

Leah tugged my hand to start walking again and I grabbed Seth's hand as we made out way past him and Jake followed behind us without a word. I trusted my cousin, but I didn't trust the pack. I don't know if they maybe convinced him I was not to be trusted or if they figured he would chose family over pack and follow him anyways, either way, this trip was going to have to be longer then the two days planned now, and I didn't have that kind of time. Not with where I was heading.

"So where are we going?" Jake asked as if reading my thoughts.

"Scavenging, stupid, that is what I do." I said simply giving Seth and Leah's hands a squeeze. "You are welcome to trot on back to Sam and let him know if you like."

Jake sighed behind us. "Bella, you know that I would never choose anything over pack."

I shook my head, even then though it was dark and I knew he couldn't see me. "No, actually I don't know that. You are my cousin and I love you Jake, but we don't know each other. That is by design of our elders."

"Kloshe." It was so soft that I doubted anyone but I heard it. It came from Leah as a warning to keep my cool. She knew I had issues with the way that the compound was designed, but it was put forth to protect us and it has worked, for the most part anyways.

I grunted to let her know I heard it and kept walking on silent.

Family, what do any of us know about family? Nothing at all, that's what, because we were never given the chance to have a true family. My father once told me it was because the whole compound is our family, but look at the separation of ranks. It doesn't promote anything but a false hierarchy.

"Bella, stop." Jake hissed at me, bringing me out of my head and into the present mission. I had been in my head, ranting for such a long while, that we had already reached the boundary of the compound.

I looked beyond the trees and saw nothing, but that also meant nothing. The savages have been known to stake out us scavengers known traveling paths. I wanted to build a fire and call it camp, but we had to get out of known savage land and into the nearest abandoned city of Arlington.

The full moon now bathed the lands as it emerged through the seemingly permanent cloud cover. It was as if it suddenly became day light and this was bad news for us. We needed the darkness to cross the savage lands since they are practically bare of any sort of tree cover.

I looked back at the group and shook my head. "We cannot cross the savage lands right now, we have to stay within the compound and head north to get to Arlington."

I saw a frown on Jake's face. "That is more the nights walk ahead of us, if we don't stop."

I just stared at him without a word. I am pretty sure Leah sensed the nasty worst about to leave my mouth because she spoke pretty quickly. "Jake, there is no cover out there. We get that you are used to how to move around the compound, but this is the savage lands. They have no tree cover at all. It has to be under the cover of darkness or not at all."

Jake did not look like he liked not knowing how to do something, but I could see that he understood what we were trying to say. I nodded and turned to the north, head to the front of the group. "Come on then, we will walk until day break. Jake, while we walk I need you to hunt so we can preserve the food we have. I brought enough for a two day journey. This is obviously going to take longer then I thought."

Seth moved next to Jake and did that guys head nod thing that all guys do to acknowledge each other. "I am pretty handy with snap snares, we can go head of the girls and set them up and have the girls check them as they go."

Leah nodded next to me. "I know how, I taught you."

It wasn't a dig, just matter of fact. Seth nodded and Jake sighed but followed the boy as he walked ahead into the forest and I sighed rubbing my head. Leah let me be in my head for all of about two minutes. "Are you going to tell me what it is that you are getting my brother into?"

I nodded, taking her hand, mostly to keep her from hitting me if she didn't like my plan. "I am handing him over to Alistair."

She stopped making me jerk to a stop and face her. "You are doing what?"

"Leah, I know it sounds like a horrible fate, but throwing him to the pack will be no better." I said defensively, watching her hands, just in case, and walked on again.

"He is my brother and you are selling him to pirates!" she snapped in a harsh whisper. We have mastered the quiet argument.

I rolled my eyes at her. "I am not getting money for him. I am probably saving his life. He won't be tortured by the pack and he won't fall to the savages as he would if we tried to stow him away in some abandoned city." I looked at my feet as we walked. "I am making you go with him."

She stopped making me jerk to a stop again. "I am not leaving you." I opened my mouth but she shook her head, which was becoming hard to see again since the clouds started to cover the sky once more. "Kloshe, no. Sam will throw you to the wolves. They will rip you to shreds and leave you a broken body and shell of a person."

I smiled touching her cheek and leaning in to kiss her lips lightly. "Sweet Leah, Sam wants me bad. If I come back completely devoted to no one but him, he will hoard me to his side."

She frowned, letting me pull her along again. "I see the sense that your plan makes."

I smiled. "I am glad that you do."

She nodded. "This is why I will only agree to this, if you go with Seth and me."

_**Review please!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Alright so how do you guys like this how that there is more story involved, also the Bella we all know i love to write comes out more in this chapter. I haven't gotten a lot of the faces down but the major players are nailed down, so a video could be in the works for this soon. Thank you for those who have taken the time to give this a chance. I really appreciate it.** _

Chapter 3

It took us another hour to get to the tip of the forest on the north side, taking suggestions from Jake on where to avoid since he knew where the pack hunted. We went without a fire, which would have been nice on this cold night, but I had packed things that did not need to be cooked, so it was fine.

I hadn't spoken to Leah much as we walked since she flat out refused to see why I needed to stay. The plan I had would put me and Jake in danger as it was, if Jake returned to the compound empty handed and having been gone for a week, then he would be fed to the Savages. That is how punishment was dealt with on the compound. Your crimes are heard by all and a vote of redemption is taken by the community as a whole. If it thought that you should be banished, they will force you to leave the compound, which all but sealed your fate for the Savages.

I will doom Jake to suffer such a fate.

Leah had made a shelter with the near by vegetation and we all got comfortable, knowing we were stuck until the next night fall. "Get comfortable. I will take the first watch."

Leah gave me a long stare, like she wanted to speak. Instead, she lay next to Jake and closed her eyes. Seth sat on the forest floor, looking between Leah and me, but I ignored him, hoping he would take that as a hint for him to keep him silence.

It didn't work. As I walked a few yards away to get a better view of both forest and Savage Land, I heard him approaching behind me. "Go to sleep Seth."

"Kloshe, do you really think that I can ignore the huge gap between you and Leah?" he asked quietly, sitting on a small pile of pile needles he raked together with his fingers. "I am not dumb. I know what you plan to do with me."

I sighed. "I am saving your life Seth."

"Has no one stopped to consider if this is what I want?"

"No, no I didn't, because I can't see how being tortured daily until your sister agrees to marry within the pack would be what you would want." I said evenly.

He shook his head. "I am a lot more grown up then you two woman give me credit for. I have been without a mother since I was one. I will be fine."

"I am doing this for her too. She would let them do what they wanted to her just to ensure your safety. You just saying 'I'm fine' is not going to be enough reassurance for her and you know it."

"So you want her to go to. That will bring to you exile if you come back without us." He said simply. If anyone knew exile, it would be Leah and Seth. Harry, their father was a very good man, but he raised Seth and provided for Leah on his own. Their mother sue was exiled, one of the first to be issued this punishment, for helping an injured Savage. Though uncaring as it may seem that the compound is, the rules are in place for a good reason. She was walked off the compound by her husband and never seen from again. It was assumed that she was killed. The Savage that she had saved that day was later responsible for my own father's death.

"It won't. Sam wants me too bad to bring exile on me." I reached into my pack and pulled out a small pouch that held my dried tobacco and wood pulp rolling papers. It was my father's old pouch and I loved it for only that. He never actually smoked much. Mostly during gatherings and events, but he said when he was younger, they sold cigarettes in stores and in paper packs. I shrugged as I pulled out one of the ones I had rolled earlier that day. "Even if he does exile me, I am a scavenger. It's not like I don't know how to live in the savage lands. If I go with you that leaves Jake, who will be killed or worse, thrown in the Pits if he were exiled and caught by savages."

Seth was silent for a moment, playing with a piece of a twig that he peeled off a near by tree. "She will not allow me to go by myself and she will not leave without you." He said quietly.

"Alistair is a good man. He will take you to the outer lands. You will be safer, even in the southern lands you would be better off then here." I pulled out a long cord as I spoke and set it to the side as I whittled at a stick I found on the walk here, fashioning a bow just in case some force more then a knife was needed.

"Are you in love with the pirate?"

I snorted and looked over at where Seth's shadowed figure was. "No, there is nothing but a good business partnership between him and me." I frowned at the bow. "What do you know of love? What do any of us know of love really?"

"Brady said that you stayed on his ship on the last trade." There was a little jealousy in his voice and I had to smile. "My father said he loved my mother." He said quietly, although I suspected that the statement wasn't really for me. I was the only none family member that was female that hung out with Seth. Leah had told me once that he had developed a liking for me. I thought it was adorable and endearing; however I could never love Seth that way. He was just as much my little brother as he was Leah's, or so it felt. It didn't stop me from teasing him whenever I could though.

"Sethy? Are you jealous of a dirty pirate man?" I said with humor in my voice.

There was a scoff in the dark and my smile turned to a grin hearing his annoyed reply. "Shut up."

I put my knife and bow to the side, moving to my knees and crawling over to where I saw Seth's outline. The thin clouds made it hard to see, but better then the pitch black it was when they clouds were heavy. I took Seth's face in my hands, able to see him now that I was closer, and leaned in kissing his lips softly. I leaned back looking into his eyes. "Seth, you will always be my protector and best friend and brother. You are in my heart."

His lips resisted a smile, but he finally gave in. "I hate when you call me Sethy. It makes me feel like a child."

I laughed moving back to my spot next to my knife and bow. "You are a child."

I was jerked awake by Leah who put a hand over my mouth before I could yell at her for such an asshole wake up. She shook her head and I looked around, slowly taking everything in of my surroundings. It was the next night and sun had just set. I could see it in the west just going below the horizon. Everyone else was awake and frozen listening carefully. I closed my eyes listen hard and I heard it, laughing and talking in the distance. There was something else… a rhythmic sound.

It suddenly clicked.

"Get into the brush." I hissed from behind Leah's hand. "Savages are patrolling!"

Everyone squatted and ducked all at once, finding cover in the brush. The talking got closer to where we were hiding and I prayed they didn't stop. It wasn't a usual exit spot for us to leave the compound at, but we did build a shelter and there are obvious signs of a camp around.

The rhythmic sound I heard got louder and I should have pegged it sooner, but where 90% of the compound is forest, horses were only something we heard in Savage Lands. The Savages being on horses was good news for us, however, because they are less likely to stop when they are on their horses. This also meant though that if we are seen leaving, outrunning them is not an option.

When they finally passed I turned slowly to Leah, who was still next to me. "Take the lead to Arlington. I am going to take the rear. If they come back I need you to promise me that you will go on. You know that I can get away when I am on my own but if I have to watch you guys too I will never get away."

Leah stared at me in silence but nodded, knowing I was right. "Kloshe, please be don't do anything stupid."

I grinned at her and winked. "You know me."

She nodded rolling her eyes. "That is exactly what I am talking about." She took my hand and laced her fingers with mine. "I wish we could have made this trip alone."

I smirked knowingly. "Well who knows, maybe you will find Alistair is your taste."

She snorted shaking her head. "Not even close. You know Alistair and I are like fire and water."

I nodded grinning. I was never really sure why, but they were never able to grow on each other and were constantly bickering. I kept telling her it was because they were secretly in love, but she just makes dramatic gagging faces and shakes her head. I got up checking for any more patrols and then nodded to the group to get ready. "You guys will have a ten minute lead on me. Remember to stay low in the grass and if the moon comes out drop and find shelter. Move with the clouds."

Leah smiled at me. "I have been a scavenger as long as you, Kloshe."

I rolled my eyes. "And yet I am still better." I teased feeling that feeling you get when someone is looming over your shoulder. I looked at Jake, who had placed him self right in front of me with an angry look on his face. "You are not doing this on your own."

"Yes, I am Jake. This is where you need to ask yourself just how dedicated to this mission you are, because you can still claim that we gave you the slip if you turn back now." I turned away from him and got my bag ready, hoping that was taken as the final word on this conversation. When I finished I turned back to find him still there. Angry face still firmly in place.

"I am going back to the pack." He said quietly.

My heart sank a little with disappointment. I had wish that he would have kept his promise of choosing blood before pack, but I was let down. I nodded silently and moved around him, but he held my arm and pulled me into a hug, kissing my forehead in a brotherly way. "My father is left alone, I have to go, but I will not tell them where you have gone. Just go with them. So I know that you are safe because no matter how infatuated you may think Sam is with you, it will not save you from the punishment for this."

I nodded into his shoulder, hugging him back hard, but didn't promise anything anything. He let go and headed back into the forest and I watched him go until I could no longer hear his heavy foot falls through the darkness. I turned back to Leah and gave a quick nod.

She didn't say a word, but I saw the concern on her face and just nodded again to silently let her know I was fine. Or will be. She grabbed her brother's hand and looked closely at the surrounding land before stepping out of the forest.

We had taken the long paths to Arlington before, but have not often come up this far to do it, opting for the ghost town Everett and then moving north from there. This wasn't the first time, however, taking this route. My eyes scanned the horizon, watching for anyone that could take Leah and Seth by surprise, but it looked thankfully deserted. I moved out next, not waiting the complete ten minutes before I stepped out, since the land looked so vacant, it didn't seem like a problem to head out now.

It was a beautiful night. It was over cast but warm, making the walk calming and easy, which once again I was very thankful for. We had a five hour walk ahead of us and once make it the two hours to get by the lakes we could stop and rest. Most of this was mountainous, however the trails that have been warn into this mountain has made it very hard to find any shelter, let a lone start a fire. It would be spotted miles away.

I stayed behind and out of view of Leah. I wanted to make sure that if I were captured then Leah and Seth had a much better chance of making it on their own. I know that she has done this just as many times as I have, but she has done it as a way of providing for the compound. I do this as a way of living. I find with every new year that passes that I am more and more uncomfortable at the compound.

Not that I will no longer came it as my home, just that since my father passed, I find it hard to feel as ease. That probably had a lot to due with Sam pursuing me from the very day my father died to this.

By the time I had gotten to the outside of the lakes, the sky was heavy with clouds making the land pitch black. I used my ears more then my eyes, trying to keep the distant sounds of what I recognized as Leah ahead of me. I knew she would stop at the lake for an hour, since that is what we would normally do. I decided to not follow. I would wait outside the lakes to keep watch for anyone that might surprise her and Seth.

I sat in a deep crevice of the rocky mountain side path that we took. It was off the path enough to not be spotted and on the path enough to watch for anyone else coming. I quickly unpacked my bag and pulled out an extra layer to put on. Man I couldn't wait to get to Arlington. I hate not being able to start a fire.

I reached into my bag and pulled out some dried deer strips and black mustard leaves. Though the forest was nice for cover and a lot of wild game, the savage lands held the wild plants that made eating the same foods every day a lot more tolerable.

I looked off into the darkness towards the compound and saw only endless pitch. It was a very silent night and you could hear the distant howls of the wolves and running of the small game. This was not a good thing because if I can hear them higher in the mountains, then three people walking through the savage lands could be easily be heard as well. Hopefully Leah was listening to the same thing.

This meant that we eat on the run, because stopping now would ensure that we got caught. A patrol would be through here to check on the sounds and there is no where to hide out here. Going higher into the mountain was out of the question since if it is the Ka'ya that is coming, there was no stopping them. Some of the people of the compound are convinced that they are part goat.

I got up and started walking again, heading closer to the lakes, seeing no sign of Leah and gave a little sigh of relief. I bent down and opened my canteen, filling it in the cold crystal water.

Cold metal touched my throat and I froze, clenching the canteen ready to use it as a weapon if it came to it and slowly and carefully sliding my knife out of my boot. "What are you doing this far from the cattle farm, half breed?"

I grunted knowing it could only be one person. Well two actually, which means there was another one not far because they were rarely separated. Emmett and Jasper Hale are savage twins. They are not Ka'ya, but savages none the less and this is not the first time we have come across each other. "Emmett, I was getting water, that is it. I am not staying in the lands."

"Kloshe, do you have a learning disability?" he sneered next to my ear. His knife pressed harder on my throat, making me lean further back against him. "Or is it the Indian blood in you that makes you stupid?"

I put on the sweetest voice I could manage. "Emmett, from the bottom of my heart, fuck you."

There was a chuckle in my ear that echoed a few feet away. "Oh look you caught a little birdy."

And there was Jasper.

Emmett forced me up to my feet and backwards, causing me to speak through clenched teeth. "Oh look, I got a fuck you for you too."

Jasper tisked as he walked closer, by the sounds of his footsteps, until I could see him in front of me. "Such a foul mouth on this woman."

"She's no woman, she is a half breed, and don't you or your dick forget that." Emmett snapped. He wasn't joking. Although Jasper had no discrimination when it came to his… personal desires, Emmett thought anything with Indian blood was diseased and it would be a worse sin to touch a woman with Indian blood then touch a child inappropriately.

"Let her go, Emmett. You know what she does, she isn't here for trouble." Jasper said, smirking at me. "Besides, she's hide a knife on you the whole time." He said with amusement in his voice. I lifted a brow watching his face wonder just how he saw it, but he was right.

I felt Emmett's body move away from mine, as if looking for the weapon. I am sure he saw it now, pointed back towards him, perfectly level with his crotch.

He grunted and threw me forward, making me fall to my knees in front of Jasper, who only continued to grin at me. "Please forgive my brother. His picky taste in woman has left him without any sort of release in over—"

"Jasper!" Emmett snapped from behind me. I almost smiled. Instead I moved forward towards the lake and continued to fill my canteen. When I got that accomplished, I leaned got to my feet and looked around, not surprised to find Jasper still there, although Emmett was no where to be seen. That doesn't mean he wasn't there, I just couldn't see him.

"You know you're friends are going to make it just fine, I saw them come by about an hour ago." He said, watching me as I packed my canteen away.

I suddenly stilled, looking around for Emmett again. "Is he going to…?"

Jasper shook his head. "No, he is heading back through the other way, towards our camp."

I tilted my head looking at Jasper. "Why are you so nice to me?"

He just shrugged and headed back towards the darkness again. "The human race barely survived the first time because of their greed and animosity towards each other. Maybe I am just trying to prevent a second time from coming around."

_**Well then. Who is good and who is bad. What is up and what is down anymore? Even I don't know. Please review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Okay guys, it took me a while to find a good spot to cute this chapter off at so you guys get a bonus 1k words in this one. ENJOY! (For those waiting for Alistair to show up, next chapter, i promise.)**_

Chapter 4

I was more watchful now that Emmett and jasper had caught me off guard. I am sure that Emmett would have loved to slit my throat beside the lake and use my meat in his next stew (Yes, there has been rumors of the savages doing that very thing), but thankfully Jasper came to my aid and now I wasn't going to let something like that happen again. If Leah and Seth were easily spotted then I have to work harder to make myself more invisible to catch anyone that maybe tracking them.

Arlington was only a few more hours away and when we got there then Leah knows where to meet up with me, so I pray to the gods that she will be there when I get there. My little hang up with Emmett and Jasper had me behind then further then I would have liked.

I thought a lot about what Jasper had said as I walked. It was rare to find someone who thought about the humans as a whole rather then individual people just living together. Although I must say that I agree with him. The world as we humans knew it literally ended and what happens because of it? We go right back to segregation and slavery.

Because that worked so well for us in the past.

Yeah it may seem like I have no room to talk since I have only known the work that I was in, however I am a scavenger and the things I love to scavenge the most are books. History books, text books, books of romance and adventure. Books about people living in castles and doing magic. Creatures that drink human blood and turn into animals. These are the worlds that people created when they had everything at their fingertips and now that the very adventure is at their feet, they go to the horror of enslaving people and creating classes.

I am very disappointed in human beings.

I don't understand why people feel the need to own another person. I think, minus the douche baggery of the hierarchy in the compound, the relationship thing is done right. Procreate, but don't own the other person. We need to survive this world. When we have done that then all those romance novels can come into play I guess.

Maybe I am just one of those people that don't understand romance.

I came out of my thoughts just in time to see Arlington Heights in the distance. There wasn't any such thing as electricity any longer. Several people have tried since the days of the quake, but for some reason or another, they have all failed. This left us with what humans started with. Fire and better night vision.

I stopped about a mile outside of town and reached into my bag, pulling out my hood and cloth skirt, things that a savage was more likely to be found wearing. Leah and Seth will have a harder time blending because of the tan skin and obvious Indian features. Being a half breed does have some advantages. I am much more pale then the others on the compound and can blend into the savage community pretty well without being noticed.

I walked into the nearly deserted town, keeping my hood up and headed down. Emmett and Japer were not the first savages that I have met, just the first to never try to capture me.

It only took me a half an hour to get across the small town to a large mansion type home that was on the road to the real Arlington. That was where I was going to meet Leah. We had thought about staying in smaller more unnoticeable shacks along the way in the past, but if you light a fire in a small place then it will be seen. If you pick a home with 16 rooms then the chance of us leaving before we are found is much greater.

I walked around to the back of the massive home and slid the piece of wood that was acting as a door to the side, slipping in silently. I listened carefully but heard nothing. "Please let her be here."

I made my way up the crumbling staircase, avoiding the spots that I knew to be rotted badly and made it to the third floor. There was a scuffling sound I froze, waiting for either an attack or a rodent. It was neither.

"Kloshe, where have you been? We have been here for hours." Leah's worried whisper sounded like she was practically yelling in the quiet empty house. I winced and walked towards her and without a word I pulled her into my arms, hugging her to me.

"I came across Emmett and Jasper again." I said quietly, refusing to let her go, even when she tried to wriggle free, probably to look me over for wounds. "I am fine, just relieved to see you are okay. Is Seth alright?"

Leah nodded and I finally let her go some, pulling your face to mine to kiss her lightly on the lips. She complied, knowing I just do this when I have been worried and want reassurance that she is alright. I finally let her go completely and we head down towards the largest room where there are rags of blankets already on the floor for our bed and a slight glow I just noticed from the fire that Seth was tending to.

Seth turned from the floor in front of the fire and smiled at me when we walked in. "Hi Kloshe— Oof."

I got to my knees and practically knocked him over checking him all over and then kissing his lips lightly. He took the opportunity to kiss back not so lightly and I smiled. When I pulled back he gave me cheeky grin but still had a trace of confusion in his features. Leah laughed from behind us. "Kloshe has separation issues, she tends to get that way when we are back together again."

Seth looked back at me and grinned. "We need to separate more often."

I snorted and sat myself down, sighing in the relief it brought my sore muscles. I pointed at my bag, looking at Seth. "I still have that game you and Jake caught. It's cleaned and skinned, just needs to be cooked if you want the honors.

Seth nodded reaching for my bag, but pausing half way, staring at me with eye growing steadily bigger. "Kloshe! What happened to your neck?"

Leah was over me in a blink, smacking my hand away when I tried to brush her away. "I am fine. I told you, I had a run in with Emmett."

"You didn't say that he slit your damn neck, woman!" Leah snapped, reaching into her pack and pulling out her herbs. She quickly crushed some yarrow leaves and applied the paste to my neck making me hiss. She glared at me. "Don't be a child."

"I didn't even feel it before you put that shit on it! It smells like ass, I hate yarrow." I snap back at her, making Seth snort, but quickly swallow his laughter with one look from Leah. "Why are you so mad at me?"

Leah was wrapping a small torn piece of cloth around my neck to hold the medicinal herbs in place and sighed, looking at me. "I cannot lose you, you hear me? You made me a promise and Goddamnit you are going to keep that promise."

Unfortunately I knew exactly what we were talking about and I gave her a hard look and she just shrugged. "Leah, we were all of 15 when we made that promise and didn't yet know the fundamentals of how things really worked in life yet."

"Alright so we can't have each other's kids, but we can stay family forever and never abandon the other." She gave me a desperate look and I shook my head. "Leah I can't and you know I can't. If I don't go back, they will probably kill Jake and Billy will be left alone."

"If it is their way and they refuse to change, what use is it to go and watch your self?" she argued, searching my face. She was right of course, but I just shook my head. "You are going with Alistair tomorrow, Leah. You and Seth and you are going to be safe and take care of one another. I am going back to be at least one person trying to make a change on that damn compound."

With that I turned over and faced the fire, falling asleep before Seth was done cooking the food.

It was morning when I opened my eyes again and there was smoked rabbit on an old cloth laid near me. I sat up, looking around to find Leah and Seth curled up together in a nearby nest of old ragged blankets. I smiled slightly.

We are almost there. I almost have them to safety. I closed my eyes, hating that me and Leah were fighting so much now, but I knew deep down that it was the right thing to do.

I got out my hood and headed for the down stairs, knowing they had a water basin in a closet down there. Of course pipe water no longer flowed in the pipes, but my father once told me that this was where they showered and used the bathroom, so I thought it was a good a place as any to wash up in.

I got as far as the steps and heard movement down stairs. I froze listening hard, controlling my breathing the best I could so that I couldn't be heard. I pulled my hood up over my head as I carefully stepped down a few stairs and slowly reached down to pull my knife out of my boot.

There was a sudden whistle and a sting on the back of my hand. I looked to the wall and saw a very expertly made arrow sticking out of it.

"Don't you reach for that knife." It was a familiar voice, but not so familiar that I could tell you if it belonged to a friend or foe. The fact that they just tried to shoot me with an arrow most likely meant that they were foe. I straightened and kept my head low so my face was hidden and put my hands up, but remained silent.

"Èske ou Savage oswa trezor?" (_Are you Savage or scavenger_?)

"Se mwen menm ki yon vwayajè, se sa ki tout." (_I am a traveler that is all_.) I said keeping my hands up so he could see them. Hopefully he took this as I meant no harm so that he didn't find my sleeping companions upstairs. I stepped further down the steps so keep him from wanting to go up.

"Ou pale angle?" (Do you speak English?) I nodded fast and looked up. There were only a few people I knew that would bother asking and they were all scavengers. I reached up slowly and pulled back my hood, revealing my face and I heard a sigh. "Kloshe."

I looked around, trying to spot the intruder and finally, in the cover of one of the rooms, I saw the very tip of another arrow poking out, aimed right for me. I felt much more at ease knowing it was someone from the compound here. "You want to put that down and come out?"

There was a snort and I tensed again. Were they tricking me? The arrow disappeared and a young man came walking out, the bow now stowed across his body. It was Brady. "Hello sister."

I rolled my eyes and continued down stairs, not fully sure if I trusted him to have committed to none violence against me. Brady was my half brother. Oh no, I didn't lie to you when I said I had no other family because Brady was my father's son from another woman. So for the first year, she raised him. Since I lost my mother pretty early on, my father was the one to raise me and when the child was old enough to stay with the men, I was already well into learning to be a scavenger. Seeing as my father was the creator of the Scavengers, he was not there often to raise the boy up. Instead he was raised up with role model's like Sam and Paul. Paul in particular took him in as a little brother, even though Brady was hardly a few shades darker then me.

So all in all, the kid hated me for being me, but I took him in when father died and taught him everything I was taught to be a scavenger. I was mostly trying to have him avoid the fate of being selected by the pack, but as it turned out, he really had an aptitude for the skill. The kid took to it like…well like I had. He was just as good as I was and even better when it came to fashioning weapons out of nothing… However, on his very first solo scavenge, he never came back.

Paul blamed me for his death, assuming that he had gotten caught by the Ka'ya. I had thought that I had seen him between the Compound and savage lands and all around Arlington and Everett, so I had assumed he had gone rogue. That had been seven years ago, it was a wonder to me that Jake only recently started seeing him on his Pack patrol and telling me about it.

"Brother, I had heard that you went rogue in the Savage lands. Sam was very displeased in you." I said scathingly, walking past him to the small closet with the glass basin in it. I pulled off my clothes, not caring that he was standing there, leaning against the door frame just watching me.

"Fuck any pirates lately?" he asked nonchalantly, smirking at the glare I threw at him.

"You know I have no idea what you are trying to accomplish when you fill Jake's head will all that bullshit." I snapped, pouring the canteen water into the small basin and begin to wash the journey's dirt off of me.

He shrugged in a bored way. "I don't know what you are trying to accomplish when you are keeping a Pack member like him so close. Billy's kid or not, he is a pack member."

"You were raised by Pack members." I rolled my eyes and reached into the bag I had with me at all times and pulled out a small bar of the soapwart soap that I had and dunked my hair into the basin, rubbing the soap all over my head as best as I could. Brady made a disgusted noise before coming up behind me and snatching the soap away and starting to roughly do it himself.

"They didn't raise me." He snapped. I winced at his roughness but was enjoying someone else washing the pounds of hair I had. It got so much cleaner when someone else did it.

I sighed. "Brady, you went everywhere with them. It was why I started teaching you scavenging in the first place. I didn't want you to be a Pack Zombie Soldier. It was too late for Jake by that time. Billy was all for the pack, but I still had a chance with you. When dad died… he said you had a better chance at surviving with us then in the pack."

He rinsed the last of the soap out and stepped away from me so I could ring the water out. "You didn't treat me like a brother. You treated Seth better then you treated me." He said in a pouty way that would have been endearing if it weren't so annoying.

"You were a teenage punk by the time I was in charge of you." I said testily. "You already had the entitled attitude that came with being a pack member. What was I supposed to do?" I was panting in my anger, my voice escalating. "You were a shit to me. Paul's little mini twin and I could do nothing to stop it and then—"

I stopped, snapping my lips closed before I let another word out. It hurt just as bad as losing my father when I lost Brady and I had lost him long before that first solo scavenging trip he went on. He just went cold all of a sudden. He shut down and hardly spoke to me. I was new to being a sibling, let a lone a guardian. So instead of finding out what happened, I just let him shut everyone out, including me. I went on living my life like he didn't exist.

His eyes were narrowed and he stood, getting in my face. "Then what, huh? You disappeared. You walked away from the responsibility and left me to fend for myself." He growled his eyes shiny with unshed tears. "Why should I stick around there and watch people stare at me and pity me when I can be just as alone out here without being the freak?"

"You went cold, Brady. I didn't know what to do, I was hardly an adult, barely done being a kid." I said defensively, but the anger had fled me. "I didn't know what I did wrong or how to fix it."

"Yeah well you never asked how either." He snapped, turning and walking out of the room. "You, Leah and Seth better head out within about an hour. There are common Ka'ya checks of this home now and I saw your fire smoke clearly last night, so they will come."

Without another word, he left to go to the first floor and I assumed out of the house. I left him leave again, without a word.

Well fuck.

I sighed and scrubbed my face, already mentally planning out everything we needed to get together to leave. I only managed to get them starting to pack up, since they were up already. I guess mine and Brady's yelling woke them up. We were shoving things into our packs when Brady himself came running into the room earning all of our weapons drawn on him at once. He skidded to a halt with his hands up in surrender. "Don't, don't, don't!"

I sighed in relief when I realized who it was and then instantly furrowed my brow. "Brady, what are you—"

"Leave! Now! Kloshe they are coming right now and you have to go… GO!" he yelled making us jump into action, scrambling around to grab our shit. I heard the sound of several horses riding up and pointed to Leah and Seth. "Get out the back window and get to the ground."

She gave me a long look before Seth jerked her hand and took off to the back of the house. I pulled out the bow that I had been working on and took out the rough arrows I had fashioned as I walked last night. Brady was already armed with his bow. "We can't fight them, Kloshe, we have to leave."

I nodded looking out the side window and just barely seeing Seth and Leah disappear into the bushes, heading fast to the west towards Arlington. I looked up and nodded towards the nearest window. "Let's go to the roof and wait them out."

Brady nodded taking the lead and ran out the back to the window that Leah and Seth had just run through. There was a heavily sloped roof that led straight down into some thorn bushes. I saw Brady contemplating just going down and making a run for it, but one of the Ka'ya from around the house had come trotting around the corner on their horse and we backed up quick heading up the other side of the slanted roof. We went straight to the top and ducking under the small attic eves.

I opened my mouth to speak but Brady clamped a hand over it shaking his head. His hand was clammy and shaking slightly and he barely breathed. As I watched my brother, I could practically see the last seven years all over his face. Hiding like this every time Ka'ya came around and trying to blend in with the Savages, but never really staying in one place too long. He looked paler then I remembered, so he could and more adult. He looked like my dad. He was a man now and he grew up without family because I couldn't face the responsibility as a kid. He was right. He had every right in feeling that it was better to go then stay there.

The grip on my mouth got tighter as he tried to cover me up with his body.

There was the sound of boots on the roof and a voice calling out to other voices down on the ground. "Mwen pral fè chèk la do-kay ak kenbe yo tou avèk ou pa fèm nan gade bèt." (_I'll do the roof check and catch up with you by the Cattle Farm_.) They were tracking east, which is a good thing for Leah and Seth. This on one the roof, however, was a very bad thing for Brady and me. I pulled my arms around Brady, trying to protect him as much as he was protecting me, but it was inevitable. Once the Ka'ya started to climb to the attic roof, we were easily spotted.

"Ki sa ki sa a kounye a? Little ti towo bèf moute isit la, cowering nan kwen an?" (_What is this now? Little calves up here, cowering in the corner_?) Brady and I looked up at the same time at the voice and had to keep looking up. The man was huge.

I pulled Brady behind me more and the man's smile grew even wider. "Oh gade, gen yon girly a, ki jan pafè." (_Oh look, there is a girly there, how perfect_.)

Brady started to stand and I shook my head, keeping my eyes on the giant. "Please, let my brother go and I will come with you. I will do what ever you want."

"Kloshe, they don't speak English." Brady hissed behind me. "You are not doing this. I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me."

The man was looking between us and I smirked. "Oh he understands, don't you?"

His eyes raked down my body in a way that made me want to cover myself up. "Mwen konprann." (_I understand_.)

I grinned nodding. "Yes you do, now tell me you're letting him go and you can have this." I loosened my hood so that more of my skin showed.

"Kloshe!" he snapped.

"Bradach!" I snapped back, using the whole name that my father had given to him when he was born. I finally took my eyes off the man and looked back to Brady giving him a reassuring look. "I got this."

I looked back at the man and he gave a nod. "Bradach, go. I'll catch up."

Without a word, Brady slipped past me and headed towards the slope. I made sure he was out of harms way when I turned back to the man, watching his lick him dirty lips and teeth, trying not to gag. He moved closer and I stiffened, letting him put his dirty lips on my neck and shoulder, pushing my shirt to the side. I slid my hand up his side and to around his neck to hold myself steady when one of his hands reached my hair and tangled his fingers into it, jerking my head to the side to get better room for his devouring mouth.

I felt his hardness rubbing against my thigh and decided that now was the time I should be acting. I just wanted to make sure that Brady had a solid head start, just in case this didn't work. I leaned up and kissed his lips, kissing him hard as the knife I had in my other hand pressed dangerously against his most vulnerable and prized extremity.

He froze pulling away from me slowly. I smirked up at him, pressing the knife harder against him. "You got a little more then you can handle with me, Savage."

He glared at me but didn't move a muscle. There weren't much man that I have come across that didn't value their pecker more then the prize of continuing to fight with me. "You will die for this."

"Oh look at that, you can teach a Savage new tricks." I said snidely smirking up at him.

He smiled at me in a nasty way. "You want to see what else I have learned?"

I leaned up close to his lips and smiled. "No, not really. You are not going to tell you friends where we have gone when my brother and I leave, do you know why?"

He lifted a brow leaning back from me. "You are holding a knife?"

I almost laughed. "No, it's because to be sure, I am just going to kill you." I said softly before jerking my arm up, the blade of my knife slicing deep into the crease between his balls and inner thigh.

He gave a growl and lunged for me, but the artery and tendon that I had just severed caused him to crumple instantly when he tried to put weight on his leg. He fell, rolling right off the top of the roof with a sickening crack down bellow. I wiped my knife on my skirt and didn't even bother to look over the side. I knew he was dead and if somehow the brute survived that fall, he would bleed out.

"I guess I really didn't have to try and come back and rescue you did I?" Brady said as I slid back through the window again, almost knocking him over as he was trying to climb back out.

I laughed shaking my head. "No you really didn't, but thanks for the thought."

He nodded and turned to leave but I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and look back at me. "I have thought of so many things over the years that I should have said to you, brother, but now that you are standing in front of me, none of them seem good enough." I said searching his face for understanding. All I saw was stubborn anger so I instead pulled him into my arms and held him to me, hugging tightly.

He stiffened and then wrapped his arms around me, holding me too him. "I am so sorry, Bradach. I will not let you leave me again. You are coming with us." I looked into his face. The face of the man before me that once stood a stubborn boy that was my brother.

He gave a small smile. "Alright, for now, yes."

_**Awww sibling love. Okay trailer for this story is in the works and I think that you will dig it guys. I should have it up in a few days. Don't forget to review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: If you guys didn't know, i have a FB page for this story and also there is a now a video that goes with it. later today i should have face=name up on the fb page so that you see who i see while you're reading! Thank you to all those who have stuck with this. I know I have been venturing into the A LOT different wit this one, but I promise I will do my best to make this epic.**_

Chapter 5

We caught up to Leah and Seth pretty quickly, not stopping for any reason. It took about an hour to get to Arlington and thankfully the savages that are found there care a whole lot less about who is going through town. They have taken up in shops and even small diners. The food is horrible and you usually pay in trade, but it is food in your belly. These coastal savages love the pirates since they provided outer land goods and foods that made even the occasional traveling A'chit will stop and see what this town has. As soon as we reached the first road into Arlington and started across the great bridge, we could smell the roasting meat on the open fires and the salty Pacific Ocean air. It was a beautiful sensation that I relished every time that we came.

The great bridge was … well it was a great bridge that covered over all the damage done by the quake, most of what was supposed to be between Arlington and the ocean is under water now. There was a small town just along the coast line now, this was where Alistair was. Even still on the bridge I could see the sails in the distance on the diamonds like sparking water. I grabbed a hold of Brady's hand as we walked and he gave me a small smile, but didn't pull away. It was strange to think that he was born on the compound, however, was now more savage then scavenger. Although it was comforting to know that when I had Leah and Seth safely on Alistair's boat, I had someone to head back to the compound with. It was only noon when we made it to the coastal town of Arlington and though I saw Alistair's ship, there was no sign of him on board.

Laurent knew me well and offered us the cabins to rest in while we waited for Alistair to come back. I was immensely grateful because a cabin on the ship meant a bed with actual pillows and cushions. I was offered the captain's cabin, since I had always felt weird taking someone else's bed that I didn't know and even though I had become close with the crew over the years but they are always getting new crew and I didn't want a strange man thinking I was left as a prize for them. That mix up has happened.

I am pretty sure that I fell asleep the second my head hit the comfortable pillow and when I woke, the sun was gone and the lamp was lit in the cabin. I saw that my traveling clothes had been removed and I was now in only my under clothes. I must have been sleeping pretty hard for all this to have happened without me waking.

"You needed it, love."

I almost jumped out of my skin when Alistair's familiar gravely voice came from behind me on the large bed. I found that I was already reaching for the knife in my boot that I was not wearing any longer. Alistair laughed at the glare I threw at him, looking all comfortable with his head propped on his hand, leaning to the side as he stretched out next to me. "Yes, love, I disarmed you too. I thought I would fair better in your bed if you no longer had a weapon to reach for."

My lips moved into a slow smirk. There was a time, when I was offered Alistair's bed in the past and he thought he would take advantage of my sleepy state. My knife was out threatening his manhood before he finished even getting on the bed. Now of course, this hasn't ended his continuous pursuit of me, but I didn't mind anymore. I also never gave in… fully. There were a few nights of poker and alcohol that has prompted a few close calls though. It is good for me, bad for him, that I can not hold my alcohol when on a boat.

"Have you not learned nothing yet, pirate?" I said, grinning at him. "You cannot come into a lady's bed uninvited."

He smirked at me, slowly pulling down the covering and letting his eyes follow the progress as his teeth held his bottom lip captive. "You, Kloshe are no lady. However, you, Bella, are a lady and I respect that." He grinned leaning forward to rest his lips on my shoulder. The scruff of his whiskers scratched my skin in a way that made me shiver. His smile turned mischievous and he winked up at me. "It is very good for me that you are never in your Bella skin and always wear this tough Kloshe armor."

I turned facing him fully and smiled up at him. "Are the others awake?"

He lifted a brow at me and pretended to think on it. "Oh, you mean my favorite woman and her adorable puppy like brother? You know, Leah really needs to stop fawning over me, it's starting to get ridiculous."

I snorted rolling my eyes at the thought of Leah ever fawning over anyone, let alone Alistair. "Why can you two not get along? You and I were second from killing each other—"

"More then once."

I went on like he didn't speak. "And we get along just fine."

"I have no idea, Love. I think you should think on it while we share this bed together in some elicit activities." He wiggled his eye brows making me smile. I remembered why we were here and my smile dropped.

I looked up at him giving him a serious look. "Alistair, I have a favor to ask."

He gave me a cheeky smirk and I knew what was coming. He slid over me and I looked up at him with an exasperated look, but kept my mouth shut. I was the one asking for him for the favor. "You know, Love. I have been waiting for this day."

I lifted a brow and smirked, wondering what the hell he was talking about. Maybe I didn't know what was coming.

He grinned. "For you to land almost naked in me bed and say, 'Alistair, I have a favor to ask.' And then you ask me to take you away from all this, to live on me ship for now until dawning forever."

My smirk turned into a grin. "Why Alistair, that was incredibly girly romantic."

He spread my legs and wrapped them around his waist. Thank goodness he was still fully dressed. "I am a romantic creature, Love."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and shook my head. "As beautiful as that sounds, that is not my favor. I need you to take Leah and Seth with you when you go."

He frowned, but he didn't move away, of course. "Is it that pack then? They have finally gotten her to marry?"

"Join together with one of the pack members, yes." I shrugged. "There isn't anyone that deserves that fate."

"You are not coming with her?" he asked watching my face. He wasn't being sly, he was asking in concern, having heard from us and others just how the compound pack worked. I shook my head and his frown deepened. "Kloshe, you will get yourself killed for doing this."

I shook my head. "My cousin covered for me to get this far, I cannot leave him to take my punishment." I shrugged. "The Ka'ya will be looking for me too; I killed one back in Arlington Heights."

Alistair was shaking his head and sat up to his knees looking down at me. "I cannot let you go back there, love."

I sat up to my elbows, my eyes narrowing. "You cannot make that choice for me, Alistair."

"You know how they are when they find that you have killed one of them. They don't even have to be Ka'ya. You are now hunted by all savages." Alistair reasoned, but I was already shaking my head.

"No one saw us, it was just the one." I argued. "I am fine. I am no different then any other dirty Indian in their eyes."

"Really? Is that what your father would say right about now?"

I actually gasped at his nerve of using my father against me with something like this. He wasn't wrong, father would have banned me to the compound until they lost track of me for sure. Then again he would have had his reasons considering that there was a belief that the Ka'ya could smell savage blood, even after it is washed away and that is how they track the one responsible. Really, it's just that scavengers are no Ka'ya and killing is not something we make a habit of doing, so it is done without any particular finesse and inconspicuousness. "Don't you dare preach to me about what my father would and would not have liked for me to do. You didn't know him!"

Alistair nodded. "I do know him, through you! Don't go back, Kloshe, you will get killed back at the compound or sent out to the savages who will kill you anyways." He liked looked as if he were struggling with his temper and the right words before growling at me. "I forbid you to leave this ship!"

"You cannot keep me from going!" I snapped.

"I can if I tie and bind you in this cabin, leaving you in here until we leave port." He snapped right back, looking around as if he were looking for rope to do that very thing. "You are not as tough as you like to think that you are."

Alistair's head suddenly jerked back and a large knife as placed at his throat. "She may not be, but I think I am really tough and it seems to have worked for me for many years now." Brady's deep voice came from behind the pirate captain.

Alistair's eye's narrowed and he slowly put up his hands and scooted back from me. "Who is this that I am having the pleasure of meeting, Love?"

"Bradach let him go." I said in a stern voice, but my lips twitched. I had never seen Alistair taken by surprise before, it was pretty amusing. Brady looked at me, silently asking if I was sure and I nodded. He instantly let Alistair go and took two quick steps back out of reach, which was good, because I knew for a fact that Alistair kept a small knife in is coat pocket and would probably had it out in seconds if Brady was still within reach. "Alistair, this is my little brother Brady."

Alistair did a double take on me before turning to look at my brother. "The one that was thought dead, then?" He stepped off the bed, forcing Brady to step back again, into the light. "You!"

Before I had time to even ask, Alistair had his knife out and grabbed a hold of Brady's wrist. I jumped up grabbing his arm as he raised it high above his head, preparing to take Brady's hand. "Alistair! No! What has he done?"

Brady was fighting against Alistair's grip, but goading him on. "Do it! You fucking coward!"

Alistair was looking at me, seeing only red. "Kloshe, move, this man stole from me, it was a weeks worth of wages stolen from my crew!"

"You stole them from me first!" Brady screamed at him, fighting harder now.

I held Alistair's wrist, looking into his eyes. "Please he is a boy, my only family, I will pay his debt, please don't do this Alistair, I beg of you. Please!"

I could see that Alistair very much loathed me at that moment, but he gave a sharp nod and let Brady's arm go, dropping his sword. "Fine, but he pay's his own debt. You want to stay on my ship, you go see Laurent and tell him I said to put you to work." He snapped.

Brady's jaw dropped looking between me and Alistair. "You stole it from me first!"

"I am a pirate, boy, it's what I do and besides, we were playing poker." Alistair growled. "You came to my ship and straight stole from me!"

I sighed. "Brady, please just go do what he says. We need him to take Leah and Seth."

"Leah is gone." We all looked to the door where the voice came from and saw Seth standing there watching the scene in the room. I am sure it would have looked funny had it been any other situation, but his eyes landed on my half nude state and I could see the hurt there as he assessed Alistair and Brady's fighting. "I went to check on her and she wasn't there. Laurent said she left the ship over an hour ago."

I swore looking around for my clothes. "Why did that incompetent asshole let her leave?"

"We are not prisoners, Kloshe." Seth snapped. "If you were not so busy fucking the pirate captain to secure our passage, then you could see that."

My back went rigid as if I were suddenly snapped with a whip. I swallowed a few times before continuing to get dressed. I slipped on my boots and walked past them all, stopping by the door and spinning so fast that all three men jumped. I pointed a finger at Brady first. "Do will do exactly what Alistair tells you to do to repay the debt you owe." Then I turned to Alistair. "He is a child, Alistair, do remember that you are upset about money you first stole from a child before he stole it back from you." Then I rounded on Seth and narrowed my eyes. "I have had a knife to my throat and near inches from being raped, having to kill a man just to get your ungrateful ass on this fucking boat so that you and your sister could live out the rest of your days far away from here and happy so if you ever talk to me like that again Seth, I will tell Alistair to take you out in the middle of the ocean and leave you there. So for now, fuck you and help Brady because if I see you again tonight, I might just punch your face."

With that I walked to the top deck without another word to search for Leah.

It did not take long really; I got as far as the end of the pier that Nature's Revenge was docked at. Yes, that is the actual name of Alistair's ship. He thinks it's hilarious.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped at her, more relieved then mad. "You don't exactly blend in! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Kopet wawa." (_Stop talking_) She said quietly, putting a hand up. It wasn't often she spoke the native language, so it did indeed, get me to stop talking. I just stared at her calm demeanor. "Kloshe, I have tried telling you but I know no other way now. I am not leaving."

I opened my mouth to protest, but she gave me a hard look and I snapped it shut again.

"I cannot leave because I don't want to go." She said quietly. "In truth, I am in love with Sam."

I frowned shaking my head. "No, you never—"

She smiled sadly and nodded. "Yes, I have always loved him, but you Kloshe. You were on this righteous mission to resist all of them and I didn't want to lose you, so I went with it, but this is what we do. I cannot leave."

"But Seth—" I tried again, only to get cut off again.

"Does not want to go either." Leah took a step closer to me. "I left the ship knowing that the second you found out I was missing, you would have charged off, probably alone, thinking you had to come rescue me. Kloshe, you don't have to rescue everyone."

It was like a slap in the face. She knew I felt responsible for my father's death and once told her that I would keep Seth and her safe with all of my abilities… she must have seen it on my face because she tried to come closer, reaching out her hand for my cheek but I stepped back fast. "Go get Seth. Brady will take you home." I said quietly, moving around her.

"Kloshe! Just wait, please!"

I spun on her fast, pointing towards the ship. "I am setting you free! I said get Seth and fuck off home!" I saw Brady looking over the ships side at my yelling and I called to him. "Bradach! Get these two back home!"

I didn't even look away from her as I said it. I just glared, ignoring the hurt look on her face. When he yelled back a confirmation I spun around again and headed back into town, knowing there was a shop that sold homemade alcohol.

"I may not be the best judge, considering the lack of love between Leah and I, however I seem to have noticed that you are here drinking," Alistair slid in next to me. "for the past two hours mind you, and Leah had left the ship with not only her little brother, but yours as well. Now I liked her little brother, he said what he was thinking and that almost got him punched in the throat, but he stood by it. Leah and your brother now, well…" Alistair made the so-so hand gesture that made me snort.

He smiled at my reaction and put an arm around my waist. I had found a small pub that was still functioning as a pub, so I was parked in a back booth table, just buying glass after glass of moon shine, trading small strips of the dried rabbit. It wasn't much, but the coastal store didn't get much past seafood, so they are grateful to have land animal of any form. "You want to tell me what happened, love?"

I shook my head, staring hard at my glass. "They have out grown my usefulness." Alistair nodded like he had any idea what I was talking about and I laughed. "Alistair, you have no idea what I am talking about do you?"

He smirked and shook his head. "Not a clue, love. I am actually working out how drunk you are, so I can carry you back to me bed."

I grinned and pretended to think. "Well if you let me walk, you have a deal."

His brows raised and only sat for half a second more, assuming I would change my mind. I scooted out of the booth and swayed. The alcohol seemed to have been stored up for this exact moment because it was suddenly hard to keep on my feet. Alistair scooped me up and carried me from the pub making me whine.

"You didn't keep up your end, so that means I don't have to." I said resting my head on his shoulder and sighing. "She said I am always trying to save people."

"You are." Alistair snorted. I looked up at him and glared. "Don't look at me like that, love, your looks don't scare me. I'll put you over my knee if you try to fight me with a look like that agin. What I mean is, it's not a bad thing. It's her that doesn't see what a gift it is to have someone like that around."

I frowned looking off into the night as we disappeared below deck and into Alistair's cabin. He dropped me on the bed like a sack of onions and started to undo my ties of my clothing. "You know if you would stop walking away, I wouldn't have to undress you so many times a night."

I scoffed watching his face scrunch in concentration as he worked on a tie. I grabbed the lapels of his jacket and captured his lips, kissing him hard and hungrily. He very quickly abandoned the ties and kissed back with just as much heat and need.

I wrapped my legs around him and rolled, throwing him off balance and on his back, our lips never parting. My hands got to work ripping at his shirt and making buttons go flying across the cabin floors. Alistair laughed against my lips as his hands showed the same respect to my clothing.

I had just gotten his belt loosened when he rolled us again so we were now at the edge of the bed against the wall. Thank the gods because I doubted we would have stopped even if we had hit the floor. His tongue warred on with mine as his hands slid up my body and under my arms, forcing them above my head. I complied, too caught up in the kiss and alcohol to care what he did, until I felt a pinch in my wrist. I looked up to see that he had secured his belt around my wrists and hung it threw a shackle loop that hung over his bed. I lifted a brow at him and he smirked. "Sorry, Love, but last time we got this far, you held a knife to me pecker."

I gave the restraint a tug to test it and then wrapped my legs around him again; rocking my hips up into him and making him groan and lean back down, kissing me hard again.

There was a pounding on the door that made us both freeze. Alistair called out in a deadly calm voice, between bites along my neck. "Laurent, if you are interrupting me for anything less then life for death, I will castrate you."

"Captain, we are being boarded by Ka'ya!" Laurent whispered harshly.

Alistair was up in a second, doing up his pants and slipping back on his boots. "I will be out." He barked out and gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry, love, I will be back."

I was in a quiet panic. "Alistair, Ka'ya is on board, you cannot leave me here like this! I have no way of defending myself!"

He smirked at me as his eyes raked over my naked body, bound helplessly to his bed. He tilted his head. "Oh, don't you worry, love. There will be no need to defend your self. You are naked, there is no proof that you are scavenger, savage, or even pirate, so be calm and don't loose that train of though you were just on."

With that he threw me a wink and left me there.

"Fucking Alistair!"

_**Rut ro! Dun dun dun! Don't forget to review! 3 you all, check out my profile for links to the Scavenger's FB page and also the BRAND SPANKING NEW VIDEO!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/U: This was very hard this time. I have been having some things going on here at home so this was a little rushed. Also it's unedited so please forgive the mistakes. Thank you all to whoever pimped this out. I really appreciate all the new follows and fav's.**_

Chapter 6

"Alistair!" I growled, but he closed the door on me anyways, leaving me bound and helpless. I looked around frantically trying to use anything I could find as a weapon. I groaned knowing that unless I lean to throw knives with my toes in the next thirty seconds then it was pointless.

I looked down and realized Alistair was right. I am naked, that is my weapon. I tried to lay as alluring as possible, while still listening to what very little I could hear upstairs. I suddenly had a very sick feeling in my stomach. If the Ka'ya is here, then they would have had to cross paths with on the Great Bridge with Leah, Seth, and Brady.

I head footsteps coming down the stairs ten minutes later and sat up in the bed, trying to keep my alluring look and the panic off my face. When Alistair walked back in I sagged with relief. That was short lived, however, because it was quickly replace with anger. "Goddamnit Alistair! You unbind me right now!"

He walked slowly to the bed with a small smirk on his lips. "I absolutely will not unbind you."

I glared at him. "You are not stupid enough to think that you are getting any part of me tonight after what you just pulled!"

His smirk turned into a grin and screamed in frustration. "Love, as much as I would like to challenge just how stupid I could be, I have more pressing matters to attend to and so do you. It looks like my man James has found his way up the wrong skirt and offended the Ka'ya. They just took him off the boat and I have to go to the Rich Lands to get him back."

"I do not see what that had to do with me!" I snapped. It was a rude thing to say, because I knew James, he was a good guy. He is a pervert and probably had illegitimate children throughout all the lands, but a good guy nonetheless.

Alistair grinned evilly at me, sliding on to the bed, carful to cover my legs with his own to keep me from kicking him. He kept the wicked smirk and said nothing as his hands covered my wrists and loosened the belt so I could slide free. Or so I thought. When I tried to move my arms down, I found he still had them. He pushed his body against mine and his lips devoured my neck in a way that made it hard to remember why I was so upset with him. "You are going to be my slave wench."

He was lucky he had me pinned down, which I am guessing is why he was doing it. "What?"

He laughed. "Calm down those violent thoughts, love. I need you to pretend you're my slave so I can get into the Rich lands or else they won't let me in."

I calmed down looking up at him with a frown. "They didn't say that they would give him back if you showed up there did they?"

He shook his head and smirked. "Nope, good old fashioned jail break, love."

I let my lips turn up into a mischievous smirk and felt his grip loosen on my wrists as his lips went lower on my neck, sucking at my collarbone. I took advantage of the lax in judgment and moved quick, slapping him hard across the face. He cursed grabbing a hold of my wrists again, glaring at me. "Damnit woman!"

"You really are stupid to think that you're so smooth that a few kisses on my neck can make me forget that you just left me here bound while Ka'ya was on the boat!"

The angry red hand print stood out on his sun kissed face like a fire in the night. His lips crashed on mine and I growled fighting him, biting his lip until I tasted blood. He growled pulling back, not daring to move his hands to wipe the blood off his lip. "You are coming with me to Rich lands to pay off your thieving brother's debt."

My jaw dropped. "Only moments ago, you said I could not pay my brothers debt because it was his to pay."

He gave me another evil smirk that I was growing to dislike. "Yes well, that was before you let him leave this boat without paying it!"

I was rebound for the night and Laurent was sent to watch me. With the noise I heard later one, I am guessing that Alistair had left to find a willing partner to finish what I started for him.

I jerked against the shackle chains, glaring over at Alistair again. We had gone back and forth and the only real thing I gained from it was the satisfaction of seeing that he now had a black eye. I refused and he held me there until I fell asleep. I woke up with the shackles on. I haven't said a word to him since my initial outrage.

Alistair just smirked at me, busted lip and black eye and all, making me hate him for not being in more pain over the minor injuries I dealt him. "Oh come off it, love."

My icy glare told him exactly where he could shove that statement. I was being dragged behind him in a ridiculous dress by the horse that Alistair bought off of some savage couple we came across as we left town.

"Hey, Lass." I looked at the soft voice up to my right where Laurent walked along beside me to be made like a master's best man. It wasn't a hard role for him to fill, seeing how he was the First Mate on the boat and a very intimidating man. The long dreads and towering height really would have been intimidation enough, but the man was muscular on top of it all and despite his sea weathered skin, he was a very handsome man. I lifted an eyebrow at him in question, still refusing to talk. "Look at the up side, you can act like a caged animal if you want and not worry about offending." Laurent whispered mischievously. "Think about how many free kicking, punching, and spitting you can get away with."

I smiled at him and nodded. Well he was right. There was an upside to this. Alistair slowed the horse and got off, tying it to the nearest tree and pulling his bag free off the back of it. Of course, leaving me tied to it. "You're a dick."

I heard Laurent snort but I kept my eyes on Alistair who only looked up at me and smirked as he dug out a pit and gathered things for a fire. We were still five hours away from the Rich lands and I am ready to slit Alistair's throat and leave James to rot in the A'achit pits. "Now love, no calling names. You save that aggressive energy for when I trade you for James."

I paused suddenly looking around and looking from Alistair to Laurent, who were not looking at me. "I have to pee."

"Go where you stand." Alistair said, walking away from the camp towards a fallen tree to strip it of its bark and limbs. I looked to Laurent. "He won't get as much for me if I stink of pee."

Laurent sighed and shook his head. "Hold it until after we start the fire, Holdrat. I will help you then."

I looked around again, but saw nothing. Laurent called me Holdrat, which was only meant for pirate prisoners. If they were both playing this out so strongly, then we had to have been followed. Either that or I have seriously over estimated my friendship with this pirate crew. I heard Alistair call out for Laurent and knew I had been right.

Minutes later the two came back with a man and a woman walking slowly in front of them, a knife held to each of their throats. I stepped forward but was stopped by the shackles.

Alistair had the woman gripped by the hair as he walked right up to me and jerked her head sideways making her hiss but fight harder still. I saw his fingers tighten to hold her still. "Now you just calm the hell down." He snapped. Maybe it was his very pirate accent, but she settled long enough to see what he was showing me. It was a crudely tattooed spiral on her neck, which starting from the center, went to the right. All the savages were marked this way and whatever was added to it told you what kind of savage they were. This one, in example, had an arrow with a line through the bottom which was the meaning of power and war.

"They are rogue Ka'ya." I said looking up at him.

"This one has the scratch." Laurent said, holding the man by the hair as well, keeping his head to the side. The scratch was a red line through the swirl, telling anyone who saw it that he has done something considered taboo by the savages. He was banished from settling in any community in the middle lands. Only allowed to travel through and get supplies, but not stay.

"How many are with you?" Laurent asked calmly. The man remained silent and Laurent sighed, turning the man to face the woman prisoner and giving Alistair a nod. Alistair took the point of the blade and dragged it against the woman's jaw bone, leaving a bloom of red in its wake. The man finally reacted, jerking and bucking in Laurent's arms. "Li ki pote yon pitit gason. Rete!" (_She carries a child! Stop_!)

I didn't even translate for Alistair. Instead I just snapped back. "Ou ap bay manti." (_You're lying_!)

The man looked at me with pleading eyes. "Kite l 'an ale, ou kapab kenbe m'. M'ap di verite a. Nou te chase paske li se madanm lòt moun lan. Li mistreats li. Se mwen menm ki rezon ki fè yo li se soti, nou yo pa Ka'ya." (_Let her go, you can keep me. I am telling the truth. We were banished because she is another man's wife. He mistreats her. I am the reason she is out, we are no longer Ka'ya_.)

"Yeah right, she will kill us when we sleep if we keep you and let her go." Laurent chimed in shaking his head.

"Nou pral travay pou ou!" (_We will work for you_!) He said desperately, making the knife that Alistair had just raised lower slowly as he looked between them. The man jumped on his hesitation. "Li ka kwit manje ak mwen kapab fè travay leve, n ap travay sou bato a! Li se kote nou te gen nan tèt aniwe. Ak kòmès nan travay pou pasaj." (_She can cook and I can do lift work, we will work on the boat! It is where we were headed anyways. To trade labor for passage._)

"Can we trust you to scout?" Alistair asked, looking between them. The man and woman both nodded as best as they could with the boy's grip in their hair. "How are we to trust you?"

"We have no more allegiance here. We were abandoned." The woman finally spoke, her voice was soft and gravely at the same time and though she looked young, her eyes looked aged.

Laurent let the man go and Alistair did the same with the woman. "Then you have a new family. You are now a pirate. Congratulations." Alistair said, eyeing them one more time and then turning his back to them to go back to making a fire. "Bring the woman to my prisoner. She has healing skills."

This was not true, but in secret, for the big bad pirate that Alistair was, he hated the sight of blood. It turned his stomach. He says it's because he had seen so much of it over the years, but Laurent said it was because in order to get on the boats when Alistair was a kid, he was forced to kill a man and his two kids who wanted the spot.

The woman carefully came to me and tilted her head, exposing the cut along her jaw. It wasn't bad really, just barely deeper then a scratch. But even just a scratch can get infected pretty fast. Laurent handed me the little supplies we had for bandaging and I got to work, cleaning and dressing her wound. I had more practical things in my pack, but I needed those for my journey home, whenever that is going to be.

The man's name ended up being Michael Newton and Jessica Stanly, but I had such a hard time trying to understand that they had two names and it wasn't Michaelnewton and Jessicastanly that they told us to just call them Mike and Jess. That was much easier for me to grasp. They were informed why I was in chains and why I must remain that way. They seemed to understand and even gave suggestions on how to be while we are in the Rich Lands.

By the time dinner was made, Alistair was making the girl Jess laugh when he told them of first meeting me and learning how to speak like me. "In the far lands, we speak English still, even though the population is of a great lean towards Asian now. She told me her Native name, speaking Creole." He shook his head laughing. "I was beyond lost. 'Non mwen se Kloshe. Non mwen se Kloshe!' she kept repeating it and I had no idea what she was saying. She finally turned to the lass next to her and says, 'Great, this guy's an idiot'." I smiled fondly at that memory grinning at him.

"He threw up his hands at his crew and said, 'well, I understood that.'." I chimed in laughing. "I was startled to hear him speak a common tongue. So startled I laughed. I just told him, 'I was saying my name is Kloshe'."

Alistair laughed adding in his part as I retold what happened. "I said, 'Clotchi?'"

"I ended up sounding it out for him." I laughed. "Only for him to find out that my birth name is Bella."

The man Mike frowned at me. "So you have no last names?" he asked and shook his head fast. "Mwen pa vle di tonbe nan peche." (_I don't mean to offend_.)

"You are not offending, I understand that it isn't common, expect on the compound. There a long time ago, after they rounded all of us up, we decided that we were all our new family, so there was no need for a distinguishable last name. There are rolls and classes with in the compound, but no family names." I explained, waiting to see if he got all of that. He seemed to understand the common tongue, but not speak it very well.

"Our people used to think that you guys were the perfect run society." The girl Jess said quietly. "They said, look at how efficient they work and how they all get along, we need to be more like that."

I shook my head. "In side those boundaries though, it is not perfect. The rolls determine your class and if you are not a pack member or a baby maker for a pack member, then you are pretty much expendable. Even the scavengers, like me, are seen as lowly and useless. The elders, other then myself, believe that we have scavenged all we need to and there is no longer goods to be found. They are partly true. The cities and houses have been picked dry of anything that could be deemed useful to us, but the pirates." I pointed to Alistair and Laurent. "They bring things from the Far Lands and it is almost priceless to us. Although my people see my trading with the pirates as a ruining of a perfect system." I shrugged.

The couple shook their heads looking at each other. "The Ka'ya is not the only ones who hunt people. Savages are hunted people as well." The woman said softly.

I was shocked, shifting my position to get as close as I could while still chained. "What are you saying? Who hunts them?"

The man frowned as if concerned that we have not yet heard of the new predators that hunt even the highest up on the food chain. "Figi kapuchon ki monte soti kote solèy leve a." (_Hooded figures that come from the east_.) he said, pointing to punctuate his direction. "Yo pa lachas pou lajan oswa pou materyèl. Yo lachas pou manje. Kanibal." (_They do not hunt for money or supplies. They hunt for food. Cannibals.)_

"Cannibals?" Alistair said, alarmed. He shook his head in disbelief as he looked at me. "See why I ask you to come with me to the water? We have no cannibals on the water."

I rolled my eyes and looked back at them, but they were talking amongst themselves now and it was getting late. Our fire would be noticed soon and we had to keep moving.

**_A/U: Yikes guys. Please review! Tell me what you think!_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I am sorry this took so long. There was a computer crash and insomnia problem to deal with but it's all getting figured out so here this is! Don't forget to review!**_

Chapter 7

Just walking up to the gate that separates the other lands from the Rich Lands was awe inspiring. First off it was amazingly huge. I had not seen any structure this large since we went on a particularly long scavenge many years ago and cam across the ruins of an old city. They had building that my father had called sky scrapers. He said that there were some in other lands that reach over 70 layers of building. That was hard to believe for me, since I grew up in a handmade home in the forest. Having since gone to many cities all over the land though, I have seen proof of the buildings that used to scrape the clouds.

Secondly it was clean. After we got to the gate, they made us state why we where there and leave our horse outside the gate. When we walked in I looked around and couldn't believe what I saw. It was a city. A real city, that wasn't over grown with nature or buildings falling apart. It was well taken care of and the streets were clean and buildings shined.

Third were the slaves. I didn't recognize one person. Not that I expected to see all people from the compound just walking around in chains. In fact no one was in chains. But you could tell by the clothes who was residence and who slaves were. The residence had clothes that I had never seen before. They were made of material that shined or stretched or draped in such a way that there was no question they were of a dramatic and wealthy fashion. They were not overly colorful, since even in the Rich Lands, color was something of a prized commodity, but they had more color then the brown, beige and dark brown clothes that we often had available to us on the compound. Even the savages neglected the frivolousness of color usage.

The saves here were no different, except for the bright red tattoo they bore on the side of their necks. I had never seen a tattoo like that before. It was, even from afar, a very distinct three loops one after the other, indicating chains if I were to guess. Their clothes were loose and yes barely there, despite the chill in the air, they all bore midriff or a bare chest. There were a few of the slaves that looked like they were unaware of anything around them, being led around by their masters by what looked like a long necklace or a gold plated then leash. They wore a vacant and haunted expression. Maybe they were intoxicating them some how.

We got to the place where they held the newly acquired slaves. Alistair let the girl and boy stay at the camp until we got back. They only left us with a promise to be there when we got back, but I had a feeling they would be. They were just too eager to be apart of a family again, I didn't see them abandoning the chance. The place was a small building off of what looked like a giant stadium.

This is where they hold the pit fights. Well it is defiantly not a pit. It was beautiful, at least along the outside from where I could see.

"Selling this one?" A sloppy built but clean clothed man asked, walking closer to me. I shrunk back pulling anxiously on my chains, ready to fight if I had to.

"No mate, I am here actually to pick up one of my own that wondered off and was accidently picked up yesterday. We call him James." Alistair said easily and calmly, but I could see the tension in his back.

The sloppy man looked at me from head to toe slowly and shook his head. "Damn shame. Could have gotten a high price for this one. I'll bed she puts up a fight when you try to break her in."

Alistair nodded in a friendly and understanding way, as if he knew exactly what this guys was saying when he said break her in. I didn't like it at all.

"We have your James." The man turned back to the door of the smaller building and signaled someone who I assume then pulled the necessary cords to open a large gate in front of us. I was in awe, like most everything in this place, of its size and the shear man power it was taking to open this bitch. It was big and looked, unbelievably, solid steel.

Alistair jerked on my chains to move me forward and we walked, I stumbled, though to what looked like a huge yard full of grates.

There were at least fifty square crisscross grates laying on the ground and it wasn't until we were fully inside the yard that I realized they were some kind of underground cells. The sound was unnerving. People were pleading and yelling all at the same time, echoing off the high stone walls. Men, women, and even children were all trying to say what they had to say to get free or express their anger for being there.

The sloppy man walked past a few rows of grated cells and then pulled out a ring of keys that looked to be about ten pounds. "This will be the ones that were gathered in the past few days. If you need later then that—"

"No, it was night before last. He would be here." Alistair said shaking his head firmly. I wasn't sure if he was avoiding looking at any other people this man had caged up, or being surrounded by cages were freaking him out and he was eager to leave. Either way, he wanted nothing to do with knowing about the others that sloppy had packed into these cells.

The man nodded, grinning a mouth full of crooked, but surprisingly clean teeth. It wasn't something I was used to seeing. He unlocked the large lock that was on the cage lid and pulled it back reveling several faces, probably about five or six, that all blinked in the bright light of the afternoon sun. The cell looked more like a pit that was hardly big enough for even me to stand in. I am not a very tall person.

As soon as James saw Alistair, his face flooded with relief and he started climb his way out of the pit, but Sloppy put his shoe to the top of James' head and shoved him back down, smirking at Alistair, as he licked his bright crooked teeth. "Payment is needed. In advanced."

James was rubbing his head as Alistair reached into his pack, haggling with the man over the cost of his crew member. I scanned the other faces, wondering if I even recognized anyone in this small group. They all looked the same really, desperate and scared, but none of them held a name for me. I came slightly closer, peering down into the pit, curious of they were indeed dig straight into the dirt, or if they were in fact stone. I saw that these people were actually smart enough to use some sort of stone all the way to the bottom, which held a hole for bodily matter. Yuck.

I frowned, as something caught my eye. It was in the cell next to the one that held James. A finger was popping out of the top of the grate, wiggling as if waving at me specifically. I leaned back as far as my chains would allow, without calling too much attention to myself, and looked into the grate and saw a familiar pair of brown eyes that were a max to my own.

"Bradach!" I breathed, louder then I intended, but it was calmer then the near hysteria I felt in my stomach at the moment. "Bradach!" I said louder, falling to my knees in front of the caged pit, my arms jerking awkwardly to the left where Alistair still had a firm grip on my chains.

There were so man people crammed into this one that I couldn't hear was he was saying to me. I am not ashamed to say that I started to cry, whimpering my brother's name. "Oh god, Bradach, how did you get caught? This is my fault, I'm so sorry, I will get you out do you hear me? I will protect you I swear."

I looked to Alistair who was pinching the bridge of his nose and the sloppy man who was practically drooling at this new turn of events. He turned to Alistair and lifted a hair heavy brow. "You want both?"

"No." Alistair said simply. My jaw dropped and I shook my head in rage and denial. "I cannot leave my brother! I won't leave my brother!"

Alistair walked quickly towards me and bent to my level on the ground, growling in my ear. I cannot afford to get him out. I am sorry, Kloshe, but we will have to come back for him."

I wasn't listening though, I was still shaking my head, trying to think fast at everything I had in my pack that could be of some value. I came up with nothing. There was nothing I owned that was of value to anyone else but me. I looked up at Alistair desperately and he could only offer me a look of helplessness before walking back over to Sloppy and handing him his small purse of goods required to set James free.

Then I realized that I did have something I could use. "Wait! Wait! I want to make a deal! Give this man his money back and give him the man James and this boy here, Bradach."

Sloppy laughed shaking his head. "For what price, sweet bird? There is no merchandise for no compensation." He stared to turn back to Alistair and I scrambled to my feet. "Me! The price is me!"

Alistair was all over it the second it left my lips, but Sloppy was practically foaming at the mouth. "No, no, no, I will not make this trade."

I narrowed my eyes at him, silently reminding him that he did in fact, not actually own me. "I will not leave him here. You will make this trade or the second we get out of these gates I will get free of you and get myself caught."

Alistair growled in frustration. He knew I was serious and there was far more of a change of Brady and me both dying in here if I do that then coming back with a rescue later to buy me back or take me by force. As well guarded and protected this place may be, the people were lazy and well kept. They knew nothing of defending themselves against a sneak and grab such as that.

He grit his teeth and stared at me with the most resentment I have ever seen leave his eyes and spoke through his clenched teeth. "Fine, I will leave the girl and take the man and the boy."

I felt such relief that I literally fell to the ground with it.

Sloppy was pulling James out of his confine and locking it back up behind him and moving on to Brady's cage with an actual spring in his step. He had a broad smile on his face, looking almost giddy with excitement. As soon as the grated door was open, Brady clawed his way out and flew into my arms. He was shirt and shoeless but alive and breathing and in my arms. "You're an idiot, you know that right? How the hell does sacrificing your self make up for the rest of my fucked up life?"

His arms were shaking around me and I could tell that he was torn between pissed and relieved. He was being pulled away from me so that my chains could be released and I could be transferred ownership. He quickly leaned in, giving me a kiss. "They price the beautiful ones." He said quickly. "You will not be asked to fight."

I frowned, staring at him and not understanding until they started to pull me away and I saw, marks across his chest and arms were wounds that looked like whips and scratches.

The pits. They fight the slaves in the pits.

I was tugged along, but I wasn't paying attention to where, because I refused to take my eyes off my brother until we had gone around a corner and I could no longer see him. We went into the entrance of that small building which turned out to just be that, an entry way. It lead to a long tunnel that I was guessing ran the length of the stadium. I was brought to a woman who, although smiled at me, it was anything but pleasant and no matter what I was later told, the woman's name looked like it should be Girt.

"Ou konnen lang komen yo?" (_You know the common tongue_?) She asked in such a polite way, it seemed almost sarcastic.

I glared at her, smiling darkly. "Which one? Sovaj lang sa? Siwash la lang? Or maybe native pompous ass, such as would be found in these lands?" (_Savage tongue_?) (_Native tongue_?)

Girt only smiled the cold detached smile of hers and waved me on into a small room that gleamed with glass tiles all over the walls. I frowned, tensing as I slowly walked forward, expecting nothing but ready for anything. I was greeted by another woman, dressed in a white robe, who looked like she was on the better side of 100 years old. She pointed to a stream of steaming water. "Wash. Do it right the first time or I will do it properly the second time for you with far less gentle hands." She said in a raspy voice. I didn't doubt what she said. I was far more intimidated by this woman the old Girt.

I undress, taking my boots off first and everything following them, leaving it all in a neat pile outside of the streaming water flow. I got under and jumped right back out again hissing. "Holy shit that's hot!"

The old woman looked at me with what I was guessing was her amused look, but honestly I couldn't really tell much of a difference other then the edges of her mouth twitching. "What do you think we are, animals washing in a stream? Of course the water is hot."

I reentered the stream with more caution the second time, gingerly letting it flow over my body. It had been several weeks since I had visited the lake, so this was really the first proper washing I have had in a while. I watched as the dirty water ran off my body and ran to a hole that was in the floor. The old woman came forward with a jar that held pleasantly smelling gel.

I just stared at her and she huffed, rolling her eyes. "It's for your hair, it cleans it."

"So does the water." I rationalized, still staring at the jar suspiciously. "Why does this work any better then just water?"

She gave me a stern look that told me that she had no time for my apparently absurd observations. I sighed dipping my hand into the jar and started to run it through my hair. It quickly started to foam the more I worked it in. I moved back under the water and tried to watch the foam go down the hole too, but as it ran down my face, my eyes started to burn horribly and I cried out, turning my face quickly to the hot water to rinse them.

There was a cackle behind me. "Mind your eyes."

"Yeah, thanks a fucking lot for that." I snapped. There was a quick snap across my back and my back suddenly felt like it was on fire. I spun around, rubbing my eyes free of the water to see the woman now holding a whip. "What the fuck?"

She calmly snapped the whip again across my leg and I fell to my knees holding the quickly welting skin. There was a thin line of blood that welled to the surface. "There is no foul language in these lands. Foul language is for savages and we are not savages!" she said firmly. "You are now owned by the people of these lands and you will not speak that savage filth!"

It was at the tip of my tongue to spout every foul word I knew in every language I knew as I happily strung to geriatric woman by her fancy hot indoor water stream. However in this very moment there was two other women entering the room and I doubt that they would stand idly while I did that.

Damnit.

The woman looked like exactly alike. They both had almost no hair and it was cut in the style of a man's. They also wore the clean, spotless white robes and their faces had bizarre bruising causing their eyes to darken along the top and their lips to be nearly blood red. More then that though, they literally looked exactly alike. As if it was a woman standing next to a mirror. Maybe they hatch these people like eggs from somewhere deep in the lands. They hatch with these white robes and nasty demeanors. "Take the girl to dry and get her to the farm. They are about to go out with the new recruits."

The old woman came forward and turned a knob which turned the hot water off. She takes my hand and pulls me from the room and grabs a white blanket, rubbing me roughly with it to remove all the water. When she was satisfied that I was close enough to dry, she wrapped me up in a shear white cloth and shoved me forward. "To the farm you go."

"What's the farm?" I asked absently, not really expecting her to answer. This is why I looked back at her in surprise when she did. Well that and the answer itself. "The farm is where you lot get sent to be shown to the citizens. Count your lucky stars that you weren't brought in for the pits."

She shoved me forward again and my legs started to slowly move. _No pits? If I wasn't brought in for the pits, then what was I brought in for_?

I walked through the door that the woman was leading me to and the sunlight made me blink several times. When they finally adjusted, I realized I was in the middle of a group of people all dressed the same as me. Some of them looked scared and confused, looking around and to each other for answers. The others looked bored or even excited. I frowned moving further into the group and saw that it was more of a cage that we were in. high steel bars on every side and the same crisscross top overhead.

I looked past the gate and saw that there was a large crowed gathered, looking in as if they expected us to perform a ritual or something. I hedged my way to the edge of the group, glancing around in vein to see a familiar face. I didn't recognize anyone.

"Kloshe?"

Apparently someone recognized me though. I spun around to where I heard the voice and almost stumbled backwards. "Jasper? What are you doing here?!"

He came forward from the bars he was leaning on and shrugged. "We were eating with a group of others of our kind and then woke up here."

I immediately looked around again but after my scan of faces I looked back at jasper, confused. "Where is Emmett?"

Jasper's back stiffened and he shook his head. "I don't know. He wasn't brought here with me. The rumor is there are only two places you go, here or to the pits. I can only guess that is where he is now. You can hear the crows of people cheering from anywhere around I'll bet."

I sighed, unsure what to say. Life was life and death was death in the compound. There was too much work for mourning. I instead changed the topic. "Where is here exactly, what are we doing here. Are we just for viewing or is this some kind of mating thing?"

Jasper smirked and shook his head touching my chin. " We are to be sold, Kloshe."

_**A/N: OH NO! Sold?! Jasper is there at least! What do you think will happen? Let me know what you think. Play with the review button. Love the review button.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/n: Well here is a double update to make up for how long it took to get this out! So enjoy!**_

Chapter 8

"Sold?" I practically shouted at him. He gave a grin, but it held no humor.

"Yeah, sold, isn't that a fun fact? I have been here almost a week and haven't been sold yet. Some say that I am lucky, the others say that I have only a few more days before they deem me unsellable and send me to the pit's anyway." He shrugged like it didn't matter any way to him, but I knew that jasper was not a fighter. There were several times that he talked Emmett into sparing my hide rather then skinning it.

"For what servitude?" I looked disgusted I am sure. I am nobody's servant. He laughed at me lightly and shrugged again. "Again, it depends on who you ask. Some say you are like a slave, on your hands and knees at these _wou kaka beck ak apèl_."

I snorted. "Well I am not going to be at any assholes beck and call, Cher." I said crossing my arms. He opened his mouth to retort and a loud bell started ringing some where and I spun around in alarm, trying to find what it meant.

"Come, stand in the line to avoid a whipping. They are going to look us over like cattle." Jasper whispered into my ear as he grabbed my arm to guide me. We fell into line together and I held his hand.

He didn't shake me off, for which I was grateful. As tough as I wanted to be, I was scared. I didn't want to be a servant. I didn't want to even be here, but in the larger picture, Brady is free and that was worth any of this. So I held the Savage Jasper's hand and stood stock still.

The gates opened in front of us and a line of people filtered in, there existing leashed "pets" avoiding our eyes. Japer wasn't wrong; they really did look us over like cattle. One by one they opened out mouths and I was asked to open my robe. The nude body does not bother me, but there was a group of kids outside the gate that giggled.

Finally after about an hour, a woman stood in front of me and lifted my hair and glanced around my neck. She wanted to see my hands so I showed her the one that wasn't attached to jasper. She lifted a brow at me and looked down seeing our hands clasped and a small smirk lifted the corner of her mouth.

She turned from us and stood right in front of us as her pet ran off to get the attention of one of the twins. She came over to stand behind jasper and I spoke only to the woman. "The pair of them, are you sure? They came in at different times. They are from different lands and as far as I can tell, the only thing they share is a need for breaking in."

The woman glared at the twin. "Are you questioning my judgment?"

The twin must have over stepped her place because her back stiffened and she gave an apologetic smile. "Of course not, they will be sent over after cleansing."

The woman shook her head. "No, I will take them now. That stuff you put on them makes me sneeze." I didn't dare glance at Jasper, but I had to know if what I heard was correct. We were getting bought by the same woman.

The thin gold cord was placed around my neck and the same was done with Jasper before we were hauled off by the woman tugging at our 'leashes'. I looked at Jasper but he just shrugged and walked where the woman led us. I was mapping out everything as we walked onto the busy streets. It was hard to keep track of where I was since I went though all those tunnels and buildings but I was guess still no further then a mile from the front gate.

The woman, from what I could tell from behind her, was no taller then I was and about the same age as Seth. She had bright yellow hair that fell in curly waves down her back. She wasn't the stick thin I was used to seeing around in the other lands. She wasn't like Sloppy back there either. She was healthy and well fed and obviously wealthy if the Twin jumped into action at only a few words from this woman.

We only walked two blocked before we came to, what looked like something I had only seen in the sketch drawings of children's books. Jasper and I didn't have time to admire it though because there was a tug at our leashes and we were dragged inside.

The inside looked larger then the outside let on, if that was at all possible. It was like a real working version of the mansion that Leah and I stay in to get to the boats. I was looking up the large staircase when a pretty young woman stepped in front of me. I jumped back and she took my hand lightly I started to follow her only to stop short when my other hand still held Jasper and he wasn't coming with me. I looked at him with a frown.

"Don't you two little lover's fret, you will see each other again very soon." Cooed our new owner. I turned to face her and she was giving us a sincere look. It wasn't mocking or condescending as I expected. "I am going to have you washed properly and then we will eat and you will meet my other pets. I hope you all will get along very well."

I let my fingers slide from Jasper's hand and was lead up the stairs to the first landing and down a very long hall. The house was beautiful but not overly frivolous, other then it's size. You can tell this was an old building that this woman just claimed as hers. I really don't need to know the way that she has earned the money to restore it, but I could see that she made it at least appear updated. At the end there was a door that stood ajar with smoke filtering out of it.

The young woman pulled my hand gently, letting me know it was all right. I hesitantly I moved forward into the room and was greeted with another tile hot stream room, but this one had a lake in it.

The young woman took my hands and smiled. "I am Angela, what can I call you?"

I frowned, for some reason not wanting to give my real name, but couldn't really come up with a logical reason not to, so I took a breath and swallowed. "Kloshe."

She smiled again and repeated it, making sure she said it right. When I confirmed her pronunciation she unceremoniously pulled my thin robe off of my shoulders and dropped it to the ground. She did the same with hers and gently grabbed my hand and pulled me towards to warm body of water. This time I was ready for the heat and it felt rather good, lying in the warm water rather then having it fall from the wall.

There were peddles and whole lily pads with bright purple night jasmine floating around along the top of it. Angela was lathering her hands with the foaming stuff I had used before, although it wasn't the same. This was pleasant too but much of a less potent scent, just enough to be noticed and leave you feeling clean. She carefully and slowly washed my entire body, not missing a single area. When she had finished that, she encouraged me to lie back, getting my hair wet and running her fingers through the knots I neglected the first time I cleaned it.

I took the moment to look over my guide and frowned some. She looked like someone from the compound. She had dark, almost brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. I was sure that if she had gone outside often enough, the familiar tan that I even wore would grace her skin. It was a strange contrast to what I had seen around here so far.

It was as relaxed as I had ever felt. I could have easily gone to sleep with the tiny woman's fingers running though my hair. Eventually she rinsed all the foam out, carful to avoid my eyes, and helped me climb back out of the water to a new rough blanket to dry off with. When I was finished she led me out of the tile room and right across the hall to another room that was obviously my new room.

It was huge.

It was also shared with Angela apparently because after a moment of trying to take everything in, I realized there were actually two beds in the room. Angela went to a small closet and pulled out a robe that looked more like a see through sheet of off white. She adjusted the tie around my waist and stood back smiling. "Good, you are ready now. I am so lucky for Rose to have found you. I was so lonely and the boy she got before is so combative that we can't even let him lose, he keeps fighting me when I come by him."

I frowned clearing my throat some. "What boy?"

Angela shrugged uninterested now. "Mother got him from the farm a few weeks ago. He was just a breath from heading to the pits, but he is just so beautiful. He is like you, tan skin. Sun kissed my mother says, but he doesn't like it here, no matter how nice we are to him. He fights." She shook her head sadly. "I finally gave him to my mother because I just didn't know what else to do with him."

Tan like me? Oh gods please don't tell me Seth had gotten caught too. Maybe even Leah too, how was I ever going to find them? Or get them out along with me and Jasper. This is getting a lot bigger then I had anticipated.

Then again, I really didn't anticipate anything.

Angela smiled sweetly at me. "You will get to meet the others at dinner. Come now, you're dressed, lets go down." She pulled my hand and I allowed her to drag me back down the stairs and into another large room that had a long table with several chairs with only our owner and Jasper and a tiny sprite of a woman were sitting down.

The woman stood and came to me. "You look beautiful my dear one, now, take a seat, we will be receiving our other addition, although he is rather combative, he too has a beauty that just goes so well with what we do love in this house." She said warmly as she sat down again having a quick word with Angela. Yikes, this woman was like… a collector of people. Maybe it was her way of getting the praise she needed to make it through a day to day challenge.

I sat across from Jasper and he gave me a small smile. He had removed his whiskers and the coat of sweat and dirt was free from his skin, leaving him with only flawless skin and very inviting to look at. Our owner stood and smiled at each of us. "My name is Rose; this is my daughter Angela and my other daughter Alice. Alice is only visiting because she wanted to meet my new pets. She drops by quite often and didn't want to startle you in case you met in the halls. Alice is actually newly married and lives a few paces down from the stadium to the north."

Alice gave a polite nod, but her eyes seemed to keep straying to Jasper. Well I sure hope her husband is comfortable with frequent visits, because the way that she was visually molesting Jasper, it looked like visits would be often. I almost snorted out loud but managed to hide it with a small cough. There was a loud slam and a few shouts before three others entered the room. Two people, whom I was guessing worked for Rose, and the man they were carrying into the room, who I assumed was this combative man that Angela spoke of.

The men moved aside as they roughly pushed the angry slave down into the chair and I saw Angela was right. I knew him. Tan skin at all. My heart hammered and my jaw dropped as I looked into the angry and confused honey eyes of Paul.

"Kloshe! Kawaka mika yukwa?" (_Kloshe! What are you doing here_?) Paul snapped at me and I jumped up to my feet out of pure habit.

"Bradach's alive. I found him here and set him free with the cost of myself." I said with my chin raised, also purely out of habit.

He just gaped at me and slowly shook his head. Rose, I noticed, was watching Paul and I with an arched eyebrow and amused smirk. "Well, isn't it nice that you two know each other? Maybe you can get our friend here to behave if only for you."

I sat slowly back into my seat and tore my eyes from his penetrating stare that was full of all sorts of judginess. Angela grabbed my hand and squeezed lightly making me look to my left at her small reassuring smile.

Dinner was quiet for us. Rose and her daughters spoke to each other and, thankfully, we didn't seem to be required to partake in the conversation. I couldn't even tell you what the food was. All I could tell you was that Paul didn't lift his hands once to feed himself and his eyes never left me.

When the dinner was finished, Angela rose and I rose to go with her but she gently put her hand on my shoulder and shook her head. "Rose has you for the first week for training. I will see you in the morning for breakfast." She smiled kindly and kissed my forehead. I frowned looking between Jasper and Paul. They were no help. Jasper knew just as much as I was and Paul was too busy glaring at me to offer me any kind of help.

That thin gold chain was around Paul's wrists and I idly wondered why he didn't just break free, but then again maybe he was just waiting for the right moment. The two men from before came to take Paul's arms and he came to life fighting hard as they left the room with him. Rose looked at Jasper and I with a small smile.

"Now you may have noticed that I really like to collect you pets." She smiled sweetly. "It isn't for vein reasons or for selling your bodies to others. You also may have noticed that I do not have a master of the house. This is intentional. My lovely daughter's Alice and Angela use to be standing right where you are today."

I am sure Jasper's face looked exactly as mine did which was something like very, very confused. What?

Rose smiled and nodded. "It's true, I collect companions and family. You see, I cannot have children of my own, and in these days, reproduction is a big part of finding your partner." She shrugged sadly. "So instead, I will make my family and the greatest thing about that is that we all belong with each other. There is no jealousy or loneliness."

Rose came forward and took our hands, pulling us into the room where Paul had been dragged through it was even larger then Angela's. I have never seen anything like it. There was a bad that looked like it was actually three beds put together. There were poles with fabric on them. There were yards and yards of that gold rope that she liked to use. There were binds and chains and whips and some things that were even beyond my scavenging knowledge. This is saying a lot because my father and I had to have some pretty awkward conversations about the things that I had found.

My eyes stopped on the far wall where Paul was bound by the gold rope and left hanging by his wrists. His eyes were closed and he didn't look up at the sound of us entering the room. I squeaked and stepped forward a step but was stopped by Jasper who shook his head firmly at me. Right, I had to focus. Rose brought mine and Jasper's hands together and smiled. "I saw you two at the farm today and just thought, how beautiful is that? You are two people from two different worlds holding on to each other if only for the reason that they are fellow human beings. Are you two lovers?"

I shook my head slowly. "Friends." I looked at Jasper cautiously and he smiled slowly nodding. "Friends."

Rose squealed in a delighted way and then took my hand and pulled me to stand in front of Paul. His eyes were still closed and Rose tapped his abdomen with her finger tips. "Wake up sleepy head, you have a visitor."

His eyes started to roll around as he tried hard to focus on me. "What did you do to him?"

I asked, reaching out and touching his chest, he bared his teeth at me but it was a weak attempt and sounded more like a moan then a growl.

"It's an herb that I have to give him to keep him more… compliant. See you and your boy here are Indian, yes? That one over there isn't, am I right?" I nodded in answer, looking over my shoulder at her, just as she was handing me a cup. "You two don't need that silly herb because you are so good."

Jasper took a sip of, what turned out to be tea, and cocked his head to the side. "Why are we here then? I mean you have started about three explanations but never really told us why."

She smiled tipping my cup to my lips, leaving me no option but to drink. It was good, minty kind of, but good. I instantly started to feel as if I had the fermented fruit that they called wine down by the boats. "Well you are a smart one, aren't you? I cannot have children, so I adopt so to speak, you pets as my children and give you a life you never otherwise would have had. Now it was never a big loss to me that I could have children, but it does kill my prospects for a master of the house because just sexual pleasure is of no interest. Go figure." She gave a small snort and refilled my cup and walked over to Jasper to do the same. She smirked up at him and winked. "I have brought you here to be my sexual entertainment."

I gasped. Or I though I did, it sounded more like a sigh to my ears. "I thought we were not sex slaves."

"For other people goodness no, you are not. To each other and for me and my daughters, yes you are ours." Rose said frankly. "I do enjoy watching the best so it will often be with each other."

"Each other?" I whispered, my cheeks going hot as I looked between Paul and Jasper.

Well fuck.

_**A/n: Well now, stuck between Paul and Jasper as... that's.. phew... not a bad place be if you ask me. Please poke review! Poke the button... poke it. POKE IT!**_


End file.
